Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said on Wednesday that his government was committed to upholding human rights and freedom of speech in the country.
He made the comments when senior officials of over half a dozen top global human rights groups met with him at a hotel on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York of the United States.
The chief adviser, responding to a question at another programme 鈥楾he New York Times Climate Forward Event,鈥� said that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina who was now staying in India should be聽 extradited and brought to justice, United News of Bangladesh reported.
鈥業f she committed crimes, she should be extradited and brought to justice鈥� She should be facing justice too,鈥� the report quoted the chief adviser as saying.聽聽聽
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed on August 8 after the fall of Sheikh Hasina, who had fled to India on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising in Bangladesh.
Hasina is now facing around 200 cases, mostly related to murders, crimes against humanity and enforced disappearances.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, during a call on Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the UNGA at the UN headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, announced that his country wanted to invest in solar panels manufacturing in Bangladesh and further deepen trade and economic ties with Bangladesh.
During the meeting with senior officials of top global human rights groups, justice and accountability of the atrocities and human rights abuses committed during the July-August mass uprising and also during the Sheikh Hasina regime were discussed, said a press release issued by the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office.
Human rights officials stressed the need for more investigations into around 3,000 extrajudicial killings carried out during the rule of Sheikh Hasina while Muhammad Yunus briefly outlined how civil liberties and human rights were denied during the previous autocratic regime and what his government had so far done to establish human rights in the country.
They also called for security sector reforms, repeal of the Cyber Security Act and deeper probe, unfettered access to and accountability on the detention centres where the victims of the enforced disappearances were kept during the dictatorship.
The president of the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, Kerry Kennedy, led the delegation of nine human rights officials. Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, also joined the meeting.
Callamard said that the interim government should send 鈥榓 powerful message demonstrating that this is a new Bangladesh鈥�.
The chief adviser said that his government had set up several commissions, including one on the police, to carry out vital reforms and institutional changes in Bangladesh.
He said that his government would welcome any criticism of its activities and vowed that the interim administration would uphold freedom of speech.
鈥楾his government isn鈥檛 bothered by any criticism. In fact, we are inviting criticism,鈥� he said, adding that the government 鈥榳on鈥檛 restrict any voices鈥� in Bangladesh.
Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, formerly a Hong Kong-based human rights activist, and Julia Bleckner, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, also spoke in the meeting.
About the meeting with the Chinese minister, the chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam said, 鈥業f Chinese investment comes to Bangladesh for the manufacturing of solar panels, it will be a milestone as it鈥檚 a massive investment and will help create huge jobs.鈥�
He said that Bangladesh would make benefit from that investment, and Bangladesh would be a major exporter of solar panels.
The Chinese foreign minister described Professor Yunus as 鈥榓n old friend of the Chinese people鈥�, and congratulated the chief adviser for assuming the leadership of the interim government.
鈥榃e have full confidence in you that you will live up to the expectations of the people,鈥� the Chinese minister was quoted to have told Yunus.
Wang Yi said that China would attach importance to Professor Yunus鈥檚 call to Chinese solar panel manufacturers to set up plants in Bangladesh.
In another meeting, Professor Yunus called upon the world鈥檚 leading charity organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase support for the health sector of Bangladesh.
He made the call when Mark Suzman, CEO of the foundation, called on him at the UN headquarters on the sidelines of the UNGA session on Wednesday (local time), according to another press release.
Chief Adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam said that Professor Yunus requested the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase assistance in the health and other sectors of Bangladesh.