Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Dhaka has informed Washington DC of its remedial measures taken in addressing the human rights issue while urging them to withdraw the sanction against RAB and its officials.
“They (the US) are happy (regarding RAB’s recent performance). We said we are taking remedial measures,” he said referring to his meeting with the US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who visited Dhaka this week to join the 8th Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue.
The foreign minister said Bangladesh has inbuilt measures and a judicial process to protect human rights.
“Earlier, we did not say these strongly, but now we are,” he said on the side-line of briefing media regarding the upcoming BIMSTEC summit at the foreign ministry here.
Momen said that the relations with Washington would deepen because both the US and Bangladesh have shared values of democracy. "They are with us both on good and bad days,” he added.
The foreign minister said under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the country has now a democratic environment.
“Democracy has been running smoothly in Bangladesh in the last 13 to 14 years, a situation that was not there earlier,” he said.
Momen said that he would raise the issue of withdrawing the section on RAB during his upcoming bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington DC on April 4, marking the 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
“We have seen progress in the last three months with regards remediating these (human rights) things,” the US under Secretary Nuland said after attending the partnership dialogue.
On December 10 last, the US imposed sanctions on RAB and seven of its current and former officials.
