The United States Department of State in its annual report on human rights has said that Bangladesh former prime minister and chairperson of the lead opposition political party Bangladesh Nationalist Party Khaleda Zia remained confined to her home.
鈥楩ormer prime minister聽 and chairperson of the lead opposition political party BNP Khaleda Zia remained confined to her home. She was barred from receiving needed medical treatment abroad but was being treated in a Bangladeshi hospital,鈥� said the US report published on Monday.
In 2018, she was sentenced to 10 years鈥� imprisonment on corruption and embezzlement charges first filed in 2008, it mentioned, adding that Zia was transferred from prison to a hospital in 2019 and released to house arrest in 2020.
The report referred to international and domestic legal experts, noting the lack of evidence to support the conviction and suggested a political ploy to remove the leader of the opposition from the electoral process, even as multiple corruption charges against prime minister Sheikh Hasina were dropped by prosecutors.
In a special press briefing in Washington on the report, the state department said that the US government implemented visa restriction policy for Bangladesh before the elections with hope of reducing violence to deter actions that could undermine the democratic election process.
鈥榃ith regard to Bangladesh, we had the visa restriction policy that was announced in May 2023, implemented before the elections with the hope of reducing violence to deter actions that could undermine the democratic election process,鈥� senior bureau official for democracy, human rights, and labour ambassador Robert Gilchrist said at the special briefing in Washington on the 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday.
He was answering to a question on Bangladesh, referring to the significant human rights abuse highlighted in the US state department reports, including arbitrary killings, torture, and political imprisonment, particularly with reference to the case of former prime minister and leader of the opposition mentioned as a political ploy to remove her from the political process.聽
The US official was asked how he would ensure these reports lead to tangible changes and that the regime responsible faces consequences for their extreme human rights violations.
鈥業 think ensuring anything will happen can be challenging. Certainly our hope with the Human Rights Report is by shining a light on specific issues and specific human rights concerns, we鈥檙e able to help facilitate a change by governments and regimes in a positive direction,鈥� Robert Gilchrist said.
He said that he had nothing new to announce at this time. 鈥樷�ut as is our longstanding practice, we don鈥檛 often preview actions with regard to policy or with regard to visas,鈥� he added.
The US official, however, said that they had repeatedly expressed concern about the efforts by the government to repress freedom of expression, including from members of the press, freedom of association, and other fundamental freedoms and human rights, and that remains a continued concern of the United States.
The annual human rights report of the US state department has said that they found no significant changes in the overall rights situation in Bangladesh in comparison with recent years with civil and political rights, including freedom of assembly, and the electoral process.