US needs to work more to protect human rights
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday said there is a necessity for all the countries to work together to improve human rights records, including the United States and European countries.
"Look, the human rights situation in Bangladesh is much better than many other countries in the world. In human rights, no country is perfect," he told reporters while responding to a query at the Foreign Service Academy.
He joined "Baishakhi Utsob" organised by the Foreign Office Spouses' Association as the chief guest.
He referred to what is happening in the US and said Bangladesh does not suffer police brutality, as seen in the policing of students' protests on US college campuses.
"We are watching the brutality on televisions. Even teachers were not spared," Hasan said, adding that such a scenario is not seen in Bangladesh when the Awami League is in power.
He, however, said it was seen during the martial law, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaur Rahman, and HM Ershad regimes.
The foreign minister said they want to work with the development partners on human rights from the front and want to see that human rights are protected in the US and European countries.
Hasan said they are surprised to see how those who are protesting in the US are being brutally suppressed.
Asked about the nomination of the new US ambassador to Bangladesh, he said they received the name much earlier.
US President Joe Biden has nominated David Slayton Meale, currently deputy chief of mission in Beijing, as the next US ambassador to Bangladesh.
Regarding the upazila parishad polls, the foreign minister said 35 percent of votes were cast in the first phase despite the BNP's call of boycotting the election.
"It is a good turnout. I would not say it is very good. And there was no violence. I hope voters' turnout will increase in the second phase."
Former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen, former state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, and diplomats stationed in Dhaka were present at the function.
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