Arrests, detention of opposition’s BD leaders must not be arbitrary

Staff Reporter :
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations has said that the Government of Bangladesh should ensure that any arrests and detention of key opposition leaders by law enforcement is not arbitrary and that all measures are taken to restore law and order, and conducted in line with the parameters set by international human rights law.He made the remarks while answering to questions in a regular press briefing at the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on 22 January.
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you about Bangladesh. There’s been mounting political conflict and violence, several dozen dead. There’s calls for the arrest of the former Prime Minister and there’s also been some censorship of media. I’m wondering, I know the Secretary-General has previously spoken about it and even, I believe, tried to have some talks. It’s also a major peacekeeping contributing country. What does DPA [Department of Political Affairs] or the Secretary-General doing?
Spokesman: I think we share the concerns that were expressed by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which appealed for calm. And also that the Government should ensure that any arrests and detention of key opposition leaders by law enforcement is not arbitrary and that all measures are taken to restore law and order, and conducted in line with the parameters set by international human rights law.
You know, obviously, I think this situation that we’re seeing, we’ve seen, is rather disturbing, indeed.
Question: But given… I guess I want to ask one particular part of it, which is, given that Bangladesh is, I believe, now the number one peacekeeping contributing country and some of the abuses are very much laid at the foot of the security forces, how does this play into the UN’s review of deployments?
Spokesman: I think the standard human rights screening policy continues to apply.