Amnesty’s statement on Bangladeshi peacekeepers intentional: Momen

Amnesty International’s call for halting appointment of Bangladeshi security forces in United Nations peacekeeping missions over allegations of human rights violation is “deliberate”, AK Abdul Momen has said.

“They have said imaginary things intentionally because they want to stir unrest in the army by barring them from joining the UN peacekeeping missions,” the foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at an event in Sylhet, Momen said international organisations like Amnesty want Bangladesh to seek their help so that they can control the country.

“Someone may have complaints about the government, but it’s not right to conspire against a country. A stable government brings development.”

In a statement on Friday ahead of UN Under Secretary General Jean Pierre Lacroix’s visit to Bangladesh, the London-based rights group said he “must prioritise a review of human rights violations by the security forces in Bangladesh”.

It also called for steps to “ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations in the country do not get deployed on UN peacekeeping missions”.