Govt representatives, eminent citizens brief UN rights chief on Bangladesh’s human rights situation

Eminent citizens of the country along with government representatives and civil society members have briefed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet about Bangladesh's human rights situation.

A town hall meeting, followed by a dinner, was arranged at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka honouring the UN human rights body chief, reports media.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen moderated the meeting held on Wednesday night. 

Addressing the view exchange meeting, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen assured Michelle Bachelet about the government's efforts to protect and promote human rights in the country.

He also talked about "media freedom" in Bangladesh, saying that there were no restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami said, "Bangladesh has shown unprecedented success in various fields in the last decade. 

"The human rights situation in Bangladesh needs to be evaluated holistically. In South Asia, Bangladesh and India are going through similar circumstances."

"There are some human rights organisations who have been publishing reports based on the information provided by anti-government people," he added.

Echoing the same, Awami League's Information and Research Secretary Dr Salim Mahmud, spoke in detail about the Digital Security Act (DSA). 

He said, "There is a need to clarify some things. Of the cases that are being claimed to be filed under DSA, some 80% were filed under Section 57 of the ICT Act passed during the BNP era. 

"The present government scrapped Article 57 after coming to power. And almost 90% of the cases filed against journalists (under DSA) are against people associated with some online-based illegal news portals, that harass and blackmail people."

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson, former ambassador Samser Mobin Chowdhury, DU Professor Sadeka Halim, women leader Aroma Dutta, Rokeya Kabir, Liberation War Museum Trustee Mofidul Haque, Ambassador Abdul Hannan, Ambassador Shamim Ahsan, and Professor Sahab Anam Khan among other high-level dignitaries also took part in the event.

Most of the speakers praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership. 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, in her address, said, "All countries in the world have human rights issues. I have seen many powerful and rich countries struggling with ensuring human rights. The situation of each country is different. There is a lot to work on in this regard.