Bangladesh rebuts critical Human Rights Watch report

Bangladesh on Friday rejected a report by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch that said the country's military-backed interim government failed to protect human rights last year.

The global human rights watchdog in its World Report 2008 released on Thursday said the government in Bangladesh has failed to hold its security forces accountable for committing serious human rights violations.

"Sadly, 2007 marked serious setbacks for human rights in Bangladesh," said Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

"Bangladesh's interim government used the pretext of emergency rule to continue a historic pattern of impunity, with widespread allegations of security forces arresting, detaining, even killing civilians."

The report said the interim government has claimed to have stamped out organized crime and high-level corruption among members of the economic and political elite.

Tens of thousands of people were arrested in the weeks following the declaration of a state of emergency on Jan. 11, 2007, the report said.

The security forces have flouted standard arrest and detention procedures, claiming these are not required under the emergency rules, it said.

The report said several journalists and non-governmental organization workers have reportedly been threatened and intimidated by the army, intelligence agencies or paramilitary groups, which warned them against defaming the army or the government.

"The harassment and intimidation of numerous journalists and activists has instilled enough fear that the media is now censoring itself, especially when it comes to the military," said Pearson.

Dhaka, Friday, AP