Rights bodies already lost credibility: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Friday said, “Of the 12 human rights organizations that have written letters to exclude RAB from UN peacekeeping missions, only two or three are known, the rest are name-based. We have not heard their names before, I do not know if you have heard them,” he said.

Hasan said that this letter was given on November 7 last year, why did it suddenly come to the media after more than two months? There is a political motive behind it, he added.

The minister said these as chief guest while addressing a view exchanging meeting with members of Chattogram University Journalists’ Association (CUJA) at the conference room of Chattogram Circuit house in the city this noon.

Vice President of Chattogram North District Awami League Abul Kashem Chishti, former Chairman of Rangunia Upazila Parishad Muhammad Ali Shah, CUJA president Imran Hossain and its general secretary Monowar Riyad Munna were present on the occasion.

“Human Rights Watch (HRW) has lobbied in various ways to protect war criminals. However, in response to Israeli shelling, Israeli forces indiscriminately shot and killed women and children in Palestine, but no such statement was made by HRW over the incident,” Hasan said.

He said, “These organizations do not make any statement even when such human rights are being violated in other parts of the world including the countries where they work. All these organizations have already lost their credibility. So their call to exclude RAB from the UN peacekeeping mission is not very important.”

The minister said the government has specific evidence of BNP appointing lobbyist farms abroad against the country. BNP made the agreement to appoint lobbyists by using the address of their Naya Paltan office, he added.

He said the Ministry of External Affairs has taken initiatives to inform all the departments of the government which are investigating on how much money went abroad from Bangladesh for this purpose.