US report exposes AL govt’s misdeeds, deadly misrule: BNP

BNP on Thursday praised the US report on Bangladesh’s human rights practices as the party said it has exposed the misdeeds and ‘deadly misrule’ of the current Awami League government.

"The US State Department’s human rights report has said Begum Khaleda Zia was sentenced for political purposes while the judiciary is in the hands of the government and the country's security forces are involved in killings, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings,” said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he said the US report also said the law enforcers are being used to eliminate the opposition as the freedom of speech has been squeezed in the county.

“I would like to say that this report has revealed the misdeeds of the Awami government. This report also suggests that the government has not been able to cover up any misdeeds and its deadly misrule by even hiring lobbyists spending thousands of dollars,” the BNP leader said.

Earlier on Tuesday night, the US State Department released the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, an annual compendium on the situation of human rights in some 198 states and territories worldwide.

The reports also highlighted the rights issues, including harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary arrests or detentions, political prisoners, serious problems with the independence of the judiciary and arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy.

The government, however, on Wednesday trashed the US report saying it contains some “misinformation” collected primarily from the “anti-government propaganda” machines.

Rizvi said, the current government which usurped power through night-time voting has imprisoned Khaleda Zia by arbitrarily using the country's courts of law to bury democracy and human rights.

He bemoaned that Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman who is not involved in politics at all, has also been implicated in a fictitious case as part of the government’s campaign against Zia family.

“Begum Khaleda Zia is the victim of the government's political vengeance. The case filed against her was politically motivated. She has been deprived of advanced treatment. The democratic world is not confused by the propaganda against Khaleda Zia,” Rizvi observed.

He said the injustice, misrule and repressive acts are being exposed to the global community, no matter how hard this government tries to cover up those.