US Human Rights report made from biased sources: Hasan

Information and broadcasting minister Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said the US Human Rights report has been made based on information from biased sources and it is one-sided.

He said this while replying to journalists after a meeting with the leaders of Bangladesh Federal Union of Newspaper Press Workers and Bangladesh Newspaper Workers’ Federation at the ministry conference room at Secretariat in the capital.

“They collected data from not a single source rather from several anti-government and biased sources. So, the report is one-sided. Definitely, we are not rejecting the entire report as some good points are there,” he said.

But the issues, relating to Bangladesh’s human rights situation, elections and democracy, which were mentioned in the report are biased, he added.

Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary, said there are many questions over the US elections too. Donald Trump hasn’t accepted his defeat in the elections so far, he said.

“Terrible incident like the attack in the US Capitol Hill by the supporters of Donald Trump never took place in our country. I think, before raising questions over our elections, the US should look into the questions raised about their own election system and the issues like Capitol Hill attack,” he said.

“Now it is a matter to observe whether any other large country would publish report over the US Human Rights situation or election system in future,” he said.

He further said, the US sometimes talks about extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh, whereas in the US 7,666 people were killed in police firing between 2013 and 2019, 996 people in 2020 and on an average 1000 people from 2021 to 2022.

“Now it is a question whether the country, where on an average 1000 people are killed in police firing every year, has moral right to raise questions over other countries,” he said.

“I am not saying that such incidents never take place in our country. But investigations are carried out into the incidents and punishments are also given after investigations,” he said.

Earlier, during the view-exchange meeting, Newspaper Workers’ Federation President Matiur Rahman Talukder and Federal Union of Newspaper Press Workers President Md Alamgir Hossain Khan highlighted different issues of their workplaces.

They also handed over to the minister a memorandum containing an 11-point demand, including Covid-19 period assistance for the members of the two organizations, imparting training to their members at Press Institute Bangladesh and establishing welfare fund.

The minister assured them of considering the demands after examining those.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s Joint Secretary Md Kawser Ahammed, Newspaper Workers’ Federation Vice-President Md Bazlur Rahman Milon, Secretary General Md Khairul Islam, Members Md Tanvir Hossain, Md Aminul Islam, Md Abdul Gafur, Md Rafiqul Islam, Habibullah, Md Shahadat Hossain, Abdul Kadir, Md Hamidur Rashid Khan, Abida Sultana and Federal Union of Newspaper Press Workers Vice-President Shamim Chowdhury, Secretary General Md Kamal Uddin, Members Md Razzaq Patwari, AHM Najmul Ahsan, Md Mostaq Ahmed, Tajammel Haque, Md Yusuf Ali, Md Abdul Mannan, Md Atiur Rahman, Md Liakat Ali and Selina Akhter Iti took part in the meeting.