The Bangladesh government has said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has “unfortunately overstepped its mandate.”
The foreign ministry made the assertion on Sunday following the rights body’s statement on Bangladesh’s general election on January 7.
UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk on January 8 called on Bangladesh’s newly elected government to take steps to renew the country’s commitment to democracy and human rights, voicing distress that the environment for the polls had been marred by violence and repression of opposition candidates and supporters.
“Democracy was hard won in Bangladesh and must not become cosmetic,” the UN high commissioner said. “Bangladesh has been a role model of development, and I fervently hope this will translate into the political and institutional spheres too. The future of all Bangladeshis is at stake.”
The foreign ministry said the statement misrepresented the ground reality and was a repetition of subjective and biased assessments to politicize human rights. In this context, the government wished to offer the correct perspective, it added.
“The government’s firm commitment to uphold the democratic principles was evident in the conduct of a free, fair and peaceful election with people’s participation on January 7, 2024. Election day was unprecedentedly peaceful except for some isolated incidents in a few polling stations.
“This was echoed by many international election observers and journalists who covered the election on the ground. The claim that the ‘poll was marred by violence and repression of opposition candidates,’ therefore, appears to be extremely prejudiced and premeditated.
“While the government believes in inclusive democracy, regrettably the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) decided to stay out of the electoral process on the pretext of their unconstitutional demand of the provision of a caretaker government.
“It is unfortunate that the BNP resorted to violence and killing of innocent people to thwart the democratic process as the party did during earlier occasions of national elections. Only since October 28, 2023, BNP activists killed 24 individuals including innocent civilians and on-duty law enforcement personnel.
“They set fire to nearly 1,000 vehicles, public and private, derailed and attacked trains with arson burning passengers alive including a mother and her three-year-old child. The details of the BNP’s destruction are horrific and the OHCHR was time and again supplied with evidence of BNP’s nationwide mayhem.”
The ministry continued: “In this context, it was, indeed, a challenge to ensure a peaceful election amidst threats, disruptions and violence aiming to destabilize the country and disrupt its democratic journey.”
Despite widespread violence, the response from law enforcement had been restrained, rational and within the legal parameters, it said.
“The OHCHR’s allegations of reprisals such as arbitrary and mass arrests, threats, enforced disappearance; blackmailing and surveillance by law enforcement officials are baseless and unsubstantiated.
“The number of arrests is a sheer exaggeration. Arrests were made and legal actions were taken only against those who were involved in or inciting violence and unlawful activities. These measures were necessary to maintain the rule of law and to safeguard the rights of all citizens.
“The government rejects the claim that ‘many human rights defenders have been forced to go into hiding, and some have fled the country, while dozens of suspected enforced disappearance cases have been reported, mostly in November.’ This is far from reality and rather a plain example of irresponsibility on the part of the OHCHR.”
Dhaka said the office must check the veracity of the information before it used it in public statements.
“Bangladesh will be guided by the spirit and letters of the constitution and its international human rights commitments and by people’s mandate in its pursuit to uphold human rights and to realize people’s aspiration for a progressive society.
“It welcomes constructive criticisms and is always ready to address any legitimate concern. Bangladesh looks forward to continuing to collaborate with the United Nations and its human rights mechanisms,” reads the statement.