Amar Bangladesh Party, AB Party, held a media briefing on Sunday afternoon at its central office, reacting to the recently published Atlantic Council Report on freedom and prosperity followed by US State Department annual report on human rights in Bangladesh.
The Freedom and Prosperity Indexes are two separate indexes that rank 164 countries around the world according to their levels of freedom and prosperity. The briefing was conducted by Advocate Tajul Islam, joint convenor of AB Party. Major (retd) Abdul Wahab Minar, joint convenor, and Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuaad, joint member secretary of the party, were also in attendance.
The Atlantic Council report stated that the Freedom Index, which includes political, economic, and legal components, has been declining for 22 consecutive years. Today, Bangladesh ranks 141 out of 164 countries on the Freedom Index. AB Party believes that every country grapples with issues like corruption and securing economic and political rights. The key lies not in avoiding problems, but in actively acknowledging and tackling them, unlike this regime, the speakers at the briefing said.
The briefing highlighted key findings from the report, which measures and ranks countries’ democratic and governance indicators in its Freedom Index, as well as its Prosperity Index that measures a nations’ economic well-being. Bangladesh’s ranking of 141 on the Freedom Index places it within the “mostly unfree” category. Its ranking of 99 out of 164 on the Prosperity Index, categorizes it as “mostly unprosperous.”
AB Party referred to the data showing that countries with greater freedom tend to enjoy higher levels of prosperity, while those with less freedom tend to have lower levels of prosperity. Countries that promote political and economic freedoms, along with strong legal systems, create an environment that is more welcoming to foreign investors. It is widely accepted truth that freer countries receive significantly more foreign direct investment than those with less freedom. Bangladesh must have a strong commitment to freedom is key to attracting foreign investment, AB Party notes.
US State Department HR report on Bangladesh has been critical saying that there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Bangladesh during the year 2023. The report recorded that significant human rights issues included credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political prisoners or detainees.
AB Party agrees with the reports of widespread impunity for human rights abuses. In most cases, the government did not take credible steps to identify and punish officials or security force members who may have committed human rights abuses, speakers said at the briefing.