On June 7, Jaimie Raskin, a Democratic member of Congress in the United States House of Representatives has urged his colleagues to join him in standing with the people of Bangladesh, particularly the most vulnerable. He has also urged the government of Bangladesh to immediately ensure that it respects the civil rights, safety and security of all Bangladeshis. Congressman Raskin is also a member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which includes other members of the House of Representatives.
Congressman Raskin spoke in a session presided by the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and stated, “I rise today in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh. I want to voice my support for human rights defenders, members of minority groups, and civil society in Bangladesh at this moment when the Bangladeshi government is persisting in threatening the basic human rights and civil liberties of its people.”
The Congressman added that the Bangladesh government, led by Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, has earned a great deal of criticism over the years due to its worsening human rights record. He also pointed out that the government of Bangladesh has failed to protect the most vulnerable people in Bangladesh-women, indigenous people, religious minorities, refugees and activists.
Last December on International Human Rights Day, the US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on the basis of its ruthless human rights violations, which include extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances.
The United Nations reported that as a result of the sanctions, the government of Bangladesh had retaliated and launched a campaign of harassment and intimidation of the families of the victims.
The homes of at least 10 family members of the forcibly disappeared had been raided at night. Some of the relatives were even forced to sign pre-written statements saying that their loved ones had not actually been disappeared forcibly by the government authorities.
Congressman Raskin went on to state that Amnesty International had tracked a spike in human rights abuses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the draconian Digital Security Act of 2018, Bangladeshi human rights defenders and journalists continue to be regularly persecuted and harassed for reporting the truth about the government’s corruption. He also said that Covid-19 policies were used intentionally to prevent political meetings, particularly of opposing groups, as were demonstrations against the government. During the pandemic, violence against women and indigenous people also spiked but the government of Sheikh Hasina was unwilling to provide any security to them.
The Bangladeshi government employs a joint task force composed of members of the police, military, and border guards called the Rapid Action Battalion, and it has consistently failed to address the excesses of these and other security forces. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Bangladesh law enforcement agencies are allegedly responsible for more than 600 enforced disappearances since Sheikh Hasina came to power in 2009. These entities are also allegedly responsible for 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018. The majority of the victims of the government’s human rights violations are journalists, opposition party members and human rights defenders.