Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has joined six other human rights groups—including Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, The Asian Human Rights Commission, the World Organisation Against Torture, The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, and Eleos Justice—in urging the United Nations to use its meetings with senior Bangladeshi military officials this week to protest attempts to use the UN as cover for abuses at home. We urge the UN to announce a comprehensive review of UN relations with Bangladeshi armed forces, the top troop contributor to peacekeeping missions worldwide.
The Bangladesh chief of army staff, Gen. Aziz Ahmed, is scheduled to meet with high-level UN officials this week with the aim of increasing the Bangladesh role in UN peacekeeping. Gen. Aziz is the focus of a disturbing investigation by Al Jazeera alleging involvement of members of his family in abuses by Bangladeshi security forces as well as the commission of grave human rights abuses by military units under his command.