6 members of European parliament call for free and fair polls in Bangladesh

Six members of the European Parliament have sent a letter to the European Union (EU) seeking its contribution to ensuring free, fair, and impartial general elections possibly under a poll-time neutral caretaker government in Bangladesh. They expressed concerns over violation of human rights in Bangladesh, and called to restore democracy and the rule of law in Bangladesh in view of its upcoming general elections.

The MEPs Ivan Stefanec (Slovak Republic), Michaela Sojdrova (Czech Republic), Andrey Kovatchev (EPP, Bulgaria), Karen Melchior (Denmark), Javier Nart (Spain) and Heidi Hautala (Finland) wrote the letter to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice-president of European Commission Joseph Borrell on Monday.

When contacted, Ivan Stefanec's office confirmed the letter over email.

A senior official of the EU in Bangladesh told Prothom Alo, “It's important to point out that its 6 MEPs expressing views in their individual capacity and not the European Parliament as a whole.”

The MEPs in the letter accused the current government of curtailing democratic space for the citizens and failing to show respect to their fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.

They asked the European Commission vice president to contribute in ensuring free, fair, and impartial general elections possibly under a poll-time neutral caretaker government in Bangladesh, end to the violation of human rights, release of Begum Khaleda Zia, and engagement of the government with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other major political parties to find out a sustainable and democratic solution to the ongoing crises.

They bitterly criticized Bangladesh’s last two general elections and stressed on the need to focus on upcoming one.

“We must bear in mind that the right of the people to choose their representatives is yet to be determined as no mechanism is in place for acceptable elections in the country. This is a problem, as riggings, manipulations, and non-attendance of the voters marred the 10th and 11th parliamentary elections. While 10th general elections were non-participatory with the major political parties including the Bangladesh nationalist Party (BNP) boycotting the polls, the 11th (popularly known as Midnight Election) was concluded in the night before. Consequently, the governments have had no or little mandate from the people of Bangladesh and have failed to gain the approval of the international community.”

The MEPs said the regime has been resorting to extrajudicial killings, abductions, tortures and false cases against the leaders and activists of the opposition political parties.

“Freedom of expression including the freedom of press have been undermined in recent years, most notably since the enactment of the Digital Security Act 2018 (DSA).”

Allegations of custodial torture and other ill-treatment remained common, often in connection to the Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The abuse has not been restricted only to the government’s political opponents, but to the ethnic and religious minorities as well, including the minority Christian population in Bangladesh.”

The MEPs suggested potential measures such as restriction of entry into the EEA (European Economic Area) zone of those responsible for and complicit in the human rights abuses, or regular reminding of the conditions for the GSP+ incentive to which Bangladesh is a bidder may be evaluated.

A senior official of the EU in Bangladesh told Prothom Alo, “It's important to point out that its 6 MEPs expressing views in their individual capacity and not the European Parliament as a whole.”

Earlier last month, six Congressmen of the United States urged president Joe Biden to take measures including stricter individual sanctions to ensure free and fair elections in Bangladesh.

‘We request appropriate measures to give Bangladesh their best chance for free elections, including stricter individual sanctions, banning Bangladesh law enforcement and military personnel from participating in UN peacekeeping missions,’ the letter concluded.