Members of the civil society, human rights advocates, and leaders from minority communities have expressed shock and dismay at what they termed the United States’s “over-reliance” on dubious sources in its most recent human rights report.
Critics are particularly alarmed by the US report’s seeming endorsement of political freedoms for Jamaat-e-Islami, an entity they say has consistently opposed the foundational values of Bangladesh and, prior to the last election, explicitly aimed to establish Sharia law in the country.
Haroon Habib, a distinguished rights activist heading a national coalition of war heroes, criticised the US for its apparent support for Jamaat, which continues to honour individuals involved in wartime atrocities.
“Advocacy for such a group demonstrates a profound hypocrisy in the US approach to human rights,” stated Habib.
He also pointed out the lack of US recognition for the genocide during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, despite acknowledgment from numerous international entities including the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention.
This omission, according to Habib, starkly contradicts the Biden administration’s proclaimed commitment to upholding human rights globally.
The report’s glaring omission of violent incidents, such as arson attacks on public transportation and brutal killings of law enforcement officers, reportedly orchestrated by BNP-Jamaat activists under the directives of Tarique Rahman, has also drawn severe criticism.
Rahman, the acting chief of BNP, who is currently residing in the UK and has been convicted on multiple charges including money laundering, was also noted for inciting street violence months before the national election, urging followers to “decide the fate of the country on the streets” rather than through democratic means.
Adding to the controversy, the US report neglects significant allegations against Odhikar, a local human rights organisation.
Odhikar’s leadership, including Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan, had been previously criticized for producing a report deemed biased and flawed following violent events in Dhaka in 2013, described by a mainstream English newspaper as a “composition of half-truths, biased and one-sided presentation of what happened on 5 May and in the early hours of 6 May in the capital.”
Shahriar Kabir, a renowned Bangladeshi journalist and human rights activist, recounted his interactions with American policy experts at a meeting organised by the Atlantic Council. Kabir observed a disconnect between the US policymakers’ perceptions and the realities in Bangladesh.
“It seemed that there was a considerable lack of awareness about the scale of Jamaat’s atrocities,” Kabir noted, expressing frustration over the US’s tendency to equate Jamaat with legitimate democratic political parties.
Rana Dasgupta, another vocal rights activist and leader from the minority community, sharply questioned the integrity of the US report, criticizing its dependence on “biased sources” that misrepresent Bangladesh.
“Such citations attempt to lend credibility to sources that are fundamentally flawed, thereby undermining the overall credibility of the US itself,” Dasgupta added.
