Siddique Islam (National News Service), Dhaka, Wednesday, March 2: The US Human Rights Report on Bangladesh drew angry reaction from the government while the opposition hailed it as one giving the real picture.
The 2004 report released by the US State Department in Washington on February 28 portrayed a grim picture of Bangladesh saying the country's "poor human rights record worsened, and the government continued to commit numerous abuses."
The government dubbed it “disappointing and not objective”.
The opposition leaders said it only vindicated what they had been saying about the state of affairs in the country.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Moudud Ahmed Tuesday dismissed the US Human Rights report on Bangladesh saying it was one sided and 'not objective'.
“I think the report is too much one sided that speaks of only the negative things. It is not objective," Moudud told a local news agency in his initial reaction.
Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan said the human rights situation should be seen from the perspective of respective countries. “I don’t agree with the report as it did not portray the facts properly,” Khan told electronic media Tuesday evening.
Political Secretary to the AL chief Saber Hossain Chowdhury told the press that the human rights situation in Bangladesh was "going from bad to worse and every time we hit a bottom, we find that we are hitting new lows."
"The situation is simply unacceptable and the fact that the government itself is complicit in such violation is cause for great concern. The report once again testifies to the fact that there is no rule of law in the country and all indicators point to a negation of democracy," Chowdhury noted.
Jatiya Party Chairman H M Ershad said the report was damaging for the image of the country and that the government should take serious note of it and try to deal with some of these allegations.
The former president agreed with the observation in the report that the government influenced the lower courts and administration. He, however, hailed the RAB which he said helped improve the law and order situation. (End/si)
