The US human rights report on Bangladesh will not affect the Dhaka-Washington relations, said Salman F Rahman, prime minister’s private industry and investment adviser.
“The annual human rights reports that the US prepares on other countries are based on locals’ opinion; Bangladesh is not an exception. So, not all reports are accurate. Also, they are not being investigated,” he told the media after US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas paid a courtesy call on him in the capital Monday.
Salman also said a delegation of 22 US companies will visit Bangladesh in May to discuss ways to boost investment in potential areas, including the energy sector.
About the long-standing demand of Bangladeshi businessmen for a Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility on cotton import from the US, Salman said: “The relevant US law needs to be amended to restore the GSP facilities which were discontinued in 2013. The US envoy told me that this is not an easy task.”
Peter Haas said: “We discussed bilateral economic cooperation. I told Mr Rahman that the economy can be an area of mutual development for us.”
About the human rights report, the envoy said, “We prepare the human rights reports based on specific information. However, it will not hurt the Bangladesh-US ties.”
The report ”Bangladesh 2021 Human Rights Report,” was released on April 13, 2022, by the Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy and Labour of the US Department of State.
Guided by the United Nations’ Universal Declarations on Human Rights and subsequent human rights treaties, the country reports cover observance of and respect for internationally recognised human rights and worker rights.
However, they do not draw legal conclusions, rate countries, or declare whether they failed to meet standards.
Source: United News of Bangladesh