Efforts underway to change US sanctions: Momen

The government will continue its efforts and discussions with the United States to change its position over the sanctions imposed on some of the present and former officials of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday.

“We expect they’ll change their position. We’ll discuss the issue with them and our efforts will continue in this regard,” he said while attending a media briefing.

He was virtually connected from Turkey to brief the media on the upcoming state visit of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind to Bangladesh from December 15-17.

“It’s not like that all the decisions of the US are correct. There’re many examples. We’ll discuss the issue with them. We expect they’ll change their position,” he said while responding to a question.

On December 10, the US imposed human rights related sanctions on Benzir Ahmed, current Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police and former Director General of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and six other individuals on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. US Departments of Treasury and of State separately issued the sanctions.

On the next day Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen expressed Dhaka’s discontent over the US sanctions summoning its ambassador Earl Miller to his office. 

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen to resolve the matter. of human rights-related sanctions imposed by the Washington.

Dr Momen said the US decision took the decision to slap the sanction on some officials as some NGOs or human rights organisations instigated them, and it was unfortunate that the US took the step without consulting with the Bangladesh government.

He said RAB plays a vital role in uprooting terrorism as well as drug trafficking from Bangladesh while the US global policy is to prevent terrorism. “It’s not like that all the decisions of the US are correct,” he added.

The foreign minister said he does believe that the sanction will not affect Dhaka-Washington bilateral ties as it has been going “very sweet” with continuous discussion on fronts. 

Foreign Secretary Momen expressed Bangladesh’s disappointment that the decision was taken “unilaterally” by the US Administration without any prior consultation with the government of Bangladesh.

He flagged that the issues that were cited for imposing the designated sanctions remained under active discussions, including under the framework of the regular institutional dialogues between the two sides, and that yet the US decision came without any prior intimation.

The Foreign Secretary regretted that the US decided to undermine an agency of the government that had been on the forefront of combating terrorism, drug trafficking and other heinous transnational crimes that were considered to be shared priorities with successive US administrations.

Besides, Ambassador Miller took note of the concerns raised by the Bangladesh government, and assured Dhaka of conveying the same to his Capital, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Ambassador Miller further expressed the willingness of the US government to remain closely engaged with the Bangladesh government in the coming days on the issues of mutual interests.