US reiterates its concerns over Haas’s security

The US has reiterated security concerns for its ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, with the Bangladesh mission in Washington DC.

"We have raised this matter at the highest levels of the Bangladeshi government, as well as with the Bangladesh embassy in Washington, DC," said a US embassy spokesperson in Dhaka yesterday.

On December 15, Muhammad Imran, Bangladesh's ambassador to the US, was called to the State Department by Donald Lu, the US assistant secretary of state for the bureau of south and central Asian affairs.

The previous day, Haas had called in at the Shaheenbagh home of missing BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon to meet with the families of victims of enforced disappearance.

Such families have a platform called Mayer Daak, where Sumon's mother is a key organiser.

As the prescheduled meeting was going on, members of Mayer Kanna took positions in front of the house and demanded justice for their relatives who were victims of court martial during the regime of late president Ziaur Rahman, founder of BNP, in 1977.

The meeting was interrupted by protestors, who attempted to enter the building where Haas was located. Due to security concerns, Haas ended the meeting earlier than scheduled. As he was exiting the venue, the other protestors surrounded the ambassador's vehicle.

Haas immediately called on Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the foreign ministry to share his concerns over the incident.

Also yesterday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said there had been no lack of security when Haas went to Shaheenbagh.

Police personnel rushed to the spot immediately, he told reporters at the secretariat.

This comes after Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen earlier said the situation that Haas faced could not be seen as a "security threat".

Meanwhile, the US embassy spokesperson yesterday said the embassy had not received any prior communication from Mayer Kanna over the last several years.

"Human rights are at the centre of US foreign policy. Therefore, the US embassy takes seriously all allegations of human rights violations and regularly meets with a wide variety of human rights organisations," the spokesperson added.