Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday said the achievements of the government in human rights areas have been overshadowed by the mindless violence and atrocities carried out by Jamaat-Shibir men and their alliances in the last few months.She alleged that the Jamaat-Shibir men have been involved in systematic anti-state activities following the verdicts by the International Crimes Tribunals against top Jamaat leaders.
The Foreign Minister made the remark at a function – Mock UPR – at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel ahead of the universal review on the human rights issues to be held in Geneva on April 29.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Bangladesh arranged the programme with its chairman Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman in the chair. NHRC full-time member Kazi Reazul Hoque and UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh and UNDP Resident Representative Neal Walker also spoke on the occasion.
Speaking as the chief guest, Dipu Moni said the government passed 196 new laws and adopted a record number of policies, including child and labour policies, in line with ensuring human rights in the country.
She also said over 1000 law enforcers faced disciplinary actions for violating rules that helped bring down killing during police operations. Reazul Hoque said there are significant achievements, including in the area of empowering women, ensuring child rights and controlling child trafficking.
“But, still there’re extrajudicial killings, torture in custody and incidents of disappearances,” he said adding that adequate measures should be taken to check the issues.
Neal Walker said the government should ensure the proper implementation of the laws and policies that have been enacted and adopted to improve the human rights situation.
He appreciated the government’s role in its efforts to improve the human rights situation in the country.
Amid criticisms by rights groups for the growing incidents of human rights violations like enforced disappearance and killings, the government submitted the national report on human rights to the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva in January.
The UPR is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States.
The UPR is a state-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights
Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations. UNB
