US itself is an extreme violator of human rights, says Hasan Mahmud

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Saturday stated the sanctions of the US on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) are one-sided and invalid, saying, “Human rights is extremely violated in the US.”

The minister made the remark while replying to journalists at a program of the University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS) in the city’s Baridhara, reports UNB.

The United States on Friday imposed human rights-related sanctions on 15 individuals and 10 organisations on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.

Benazir Ahmed, current Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police and former Director-General of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and six other individuals were among them, besides RAB as an organisation.

The minister said the US also imposed sanctions on Narendra Modi but later he was given a red-carpet reception, which proves that such sanctions are in fact ineffective.

The minister also said that UN human rights experts urged the US government to end police torture and racial discrimination this year. The Guardian stated in an article that 55% of all deaths in police custody in the United States between 1980 and 2018 were "unreported" or "mislabeled," which means the exact cause of death was not disclosed.

Not only that, the world did not forget the tragic scene of a black man’s death at the hands of police on the streets of the United States last year, the information minister said.

“When Palestinian children hurled stones at Israelis, they fired at them. Above situation, the US has not imposed sanctions on the Israelis. On the contrary, if any country proposes condemnation of these human rights violations at the United Nations, the United States vetoes it."

So, it’s very clear that their ban is motivated, one-sided and ineffective, the minister stated.

However, Hassan Mahmoud said the United States is our development partner and our law enforcement and security forces have been working together to curb militancy and terrorism.

Vice-Chancellor of UITS Prof. Mohammad Solaiman, UITS Chairman and Founder of PHP Family Sufi Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan, deputy Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Dr ASM Maksud Kamal were present on the occasion.