6 congressmen write letter to Biden over Bangladesh situation

Staff Reporter :
Six US Congressmen have requested President Joe Biden to take appropriate measures including individual sanctions and banning Bangladesh law enforcement and military personnel in UN peacekeeping missions.
They also urged the President to stop human rights abuses by the Sheikh Hasina government and to give people of Bangladesh the best possible chance for free and fair parliamentary elections, a letter shared by Congressman Bob Good, one of the six Congressmen, on his official website and verified Twitter account on Friday.

“We request appropriate measures to give Bangladesh their best chance for free elections, including stricter individual sanctions, banning Bangladesh law enforcement and military personnel from participating in UN peacekeeping missions,” according to the letter signed by US Members of Congress Scott Perry, Barry Moore,Waren Diction, Warren Davidson, Bob Good, Tim Burchett and Keith Self.
In a letter sent to the US president on 25 May, the congressmen said, “We request urgent action to stop the human rights abuses by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazad, and to give the people of Bangladesh the best possible chance for free and fair parliamentary elections to be scheduled to be held this fall.”

According to the letter, “In recent months, tens of thousands of peaceful protesters have demonstrated for fair and free elections, which are the people’s only hope for a change in the Hasina government. In response, Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the major perpetrator of torture, disappearances, and extra judicial killings in Bangladesh, have arrested, intimidated, and even killed peaceful demonstrators. The RAB has been characterised as a government “Death Squad” by numerous NGO’s including Human Rights Watch.”

The US government designated RAB a “serious human rights abuser” more than a year ago and sanctioned several law enforcement authorities responsible for many of the killings and other atrocities. Yet, the Hasina regime has only intensified its systemic repression of the people of Bangladesh since sanctions were imposed. The sanctions by the U.S. have not done enough to slow the flagrant human rights violations and democratic backsliding of Sheikh Hasina’s government, it reads.

They also said, “In addition to crimes against their own people, Hasina’s misconduct encourages other bad actors in South Asia to make common alliance, and hurts America’s national security interests as they gang together and draw closer to China and Russia.”
Various NGOs have documented hundreds of instances of human rights abuses by the government of Sheikh Hasina since she assumed power in January 2009 – including reports by Amnesty International’, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and even the United Nations – that show Hasina’s government has increasingly repudiated democratic systems, perpetrated widespread abuse against its citizens, conducted torture, committed extrajudicial killings, jailed journalists, disappeared opponents, and assaulted or killed peaceful protesters. The well- documented abuses by the Hasina government are not confined to her political opponents; the government also has persecuted ethnic and religious minorities in Bangladesh, reads the letter.

The letter further states, “Since Sheikh Hasina’s rise to power, the Hindu population has been halved. Looting and burning of households, destruction of temples and religious idols, murder, rape, and forced religious conversion are causing Hindus to flee Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina’s government also has persecuted Bangladesh’s minority Christian population – burning and looting places of worship, jailing pastors, and breaking up families when religious conversion occurs.”

In a recent investigation by German state broadcaster DW and Sweden-based news agency Netra News, two whistleblowers and former members of the RAB, confessed that these incidents of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances could not be possible without the Home Minister and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s approval, the letter further states.
There was much speculation regarding the validity of the Congressmen letter in recent times. Even State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shariar Alam was asked about the validity of it during an event in a city hotel on May 31.
He said, “I am not aware if it is accurate.” But he highlighted that the BNP has a track record of misusing and distorting statements from foreign allies.

Meanwhile, the letter has come to the notice of the Foreign Ministry and it is trying to find out its validity, sources said.
On the Twitter account, Bob Good wrote, “I am pleased to join an effort calling for an end to human rights abuses by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazad of Bangladesh & to give the people of Bangladesh the best possible chance for free & fair parliamentary elections this fall.”