7 int'l rights groups ask UN to review Al Jazeera report
Seven international rights organisations have requested the United Nations to protest against a move that used the UN in an attempt to cover up certain allegations made by the Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera.
On Friday, in a joint statement, the rights bodies also requested the UN to seek explanation from the high command of Bangladesh Army.
The statement was co-signed by the Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, Asian Human Rights Commission, World Organisation Against Torture, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Robert F Kennedy Human Rights and Eleos Justice.
The statement is available on the Human Rights Watch website.
It calls on the UN to conduct its own inquiry into the allegations and take a fresh look at the human rights record of all Bangladesh units and individuals involved in the UN-led peacekeeping missions.
Bangladesh Army chief General Ahmed along with other senior military officers is currently in the United States, where he will meet UN officials next week to discuss about Bangladesh’s role in peacekeeping.
That statement cites Al Jazeera’s investigative report that revealed how the Bangladesh armed forces bought intrusive mass surveillance technology, the so-called IMSI-catchers, from an Israeli company. Bangladesh Army in a reaction to the report claimed that the equipment was bought for peacekeeping missions.
However, the UN denied Bangladesh Army’s statement on 4 February. The UN said that there is no use of such equipment in any contingent of the UN.
In the statement, the seven rights body requests the UN to make it clear that it is unwilling to be used as a cover-up for human rights abuses in Bangladesh, and that increasing Bangladeshi troops’ deployments should be put on hold pending the results of a comprehensive review of the global body’s ties with the Bangladesh military.
On 1 February, Al Jazeera broadcasted its investigative report titled 'All the Prime Minister’s Men'. The next day, an Inter Services Public Relations Directorate press release strongly condemned the report.