Tweets from Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) verified account and Basherkella – a pro-Jamaat-e-Islami Twitter account – referring to Bangladeshi peacekeepers, that includes members of Bangladesh's armed forces, in UN missions and calling for United Nations Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix to publicly voice concerns over abuses by government security forces during his upcoming visit to Bangladesh have drawn waves of criticizm from netizens, including Awami League activists and supporters.
A tweet from the verified, official account of BNP reads: “Killers should not be peacekeepers.”
A post from the verified Facebook page of Bangladesh Awami League, containing a screenshot of the tweet, criticized BNP for such brazen advocacy against Bangladesh's armed forces.
The post from AL's verified Facebook page reads: “Our armed forces are our pride. But clearly BNP spent hefty amounts on appointing lobbyists overseas and is running a smear campaign against the country. We condemn such acts in the strongest terms.”
Till date, Bangladesh has successfully completed 63 peacekeeping missions/assignments in around 40 countries/locations where 1,67,274 peacekeepers from Bangladesh Armed Forces have taken part. Bangladesh is one of the leading troops contributing countries with a total of 6,924 peacekeepers deployed in 12 countries/locations, according to information available on armed forces' website.
So far, 144 peacekeepers made supreme sacrifices and 247 sustained major injuries.
Both BNP and Basherkella shared a post from Human Rights Watch (HRW) that reads: “UN Should Enhance Screening of Bangladesh Peacekeepers.”
The HRW statement says: “Lacroix should emphasize that if Bangladesh is to maintain its role as the top contributor of peacekeeping troops, it should appropriately apply the UN human rights screening policy, which requires governments, alongside the UN, to ensure their nationals serving with the UN have not violated human rights laws.”
The HRW statement comes days after six US congressmen wrote a letter to President Biden, containing what minority community leaders denounced as false projection of the state of minorities in Bangladesh.
Another letter, dated June 12, 2023, signed by six members of the European Parliament (MEPs) addressed to the High Representative/Vice-President of the European Union (EU) makes similar assertions about the state of minority communities, particularly the Christian population in Bangladesh.
Earlier, in an interview with India Today, noted human rights activist and lawyer Sultana Kamal had said: “I am of the opinion that HRW and Amnesty International's role regarding the trial of war criminals was not fair. Also, they are not being vocal against war crimes committed in 1971.”
In November, 2014, HRW released a statement, calling for halting execution of the war crimes accused. It read: “The death sentence against Muhammed Kamaruzzman, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party convicted of war crimes during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence, should immediately be stayed.”
