US Ambassador readying people of Bangladesh for an ‘engineered’ election

On June 13, 2022, I had posted a blog titled “United States starts playing regime change mantra in Bangladesh”. I quoted Jamie Raskin, Member of US House of Representatives, urging his colleagues to join him in standing with the people of Bangladesh, especially those bravest and most vulnerable. 

Today, I am quoting what the US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas has said lately.

US Ambassador said the sanctions on Rab will not damage the bilateral relationship and that the two countries, which have deep ties, will move on and work together based on shared values of democracy and human rights.

“…A lot of people ask me if I think this will damage our bilateral relations. And I just say, I don’t think it has to,” he said in a talk show titled AmTalk. Video of the event has been uploaded to the Embassy’s Facebook page.

The envoy said there are frictions in the relationship. “And that’s okay when you have a relationship as broad and deep as ours. But what I want to see us do both on Rab and every other aspect is to sit down and to talk about… what do we need to do to resolve this issue.”

Last year, Washington imposed sanctions on Rab and some of its current and former officials.

Haas said his country heard a lot of times how Bangladesh was surprised when the US imposed sanctions.

“And maybe we’re almost surprised they’re surprised, because already in 2018, we stopped providing training to the Rab, because of our concerns on human rights.

For several years, we’ve published in our human rights reports our concerns. We’ve raised it with them in bilateral meetings. And so, while the sanctions may have come as a surprise, the idea that we had concerns should not have.”

The envoy said the US is also not perfect when it comes to democracy but that the striving for democracy must continue.

Referring to Bangladesh, he said there are things that the Bangladeshi people and the government can work on as well and the elections provide a good framing for that, because they’re still more than a year out.

“We don’t favour any particular party, or platform, or anything else … But what we would like to see is what I think all Bangladeshis would like to see, which is an election run at international standards that allow the people of Bangladesh to choose their next leaders in an open, competitive process free of violence and free of coercion.”

Haas said he welcomes some of the signs, some of the signals that they have been receiving.

“Foreign Minister [Abdul] Momen has made it clear that Bangladesh will welcome international observers. And I think that’s critical.

“But the election actually has already started. And so, it’s important to be looking at it all the way from now to make sure that everyone feels safe and secure in their decision on whether or not to participate in any aspect of the upcoming elections,” he added.

 

United States will not pick sides in Bangladesh

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas has said the United States will not take any sides in the upcoming elections in Bangladesh and reiterated US commitment across the world to help countries strengthen democracy.

“Let me be clear, the United States will not pick a side in the upcoming elections. We simply hope for a democratic process that allows the Bangladeshi people to freely decide who will run their country,” said the ambassador.

He made the remarks while addressing a seminar.

Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organized the seminar on “Bangladesh and the United States Relations: Moving Towards Enhanced Cooperation and Partnership” at the BIISS Auditorium.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen spoke as the Chief Guest.

The US ambassador said the relations between the two countries grew with a series of recent engagements while two more important engagements will be held in the coming months.

Ambassador Haas said the two countries can enhance security cooperation.

The ambassador also talked about two proposed agreements – General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) which are essential” to enabling a closer defence relationship, expanding opportunities for defence trade, information sharing, and military-to-military cooperation between two countries.

He said there are many misperceptions about these two proposed agreements.

The US Ambassador also said, “There is no scope for repealing the sanctions against Rab, without concrete actions and accountability.”

“We want to see a Rab which is capable of combating terrorism but which is also capable of respecting basic human rights,” said Haas.

Just prior to his remark Rab Director General Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun spoke about how Rab had established an internal inquiry cell to ensure accountability of Rab personnel in 2011, with US cooperation.

He said that under the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, a total of 147 Rab personnel have been trained on basic interviewing skills and human rights.

“The trained personnel have been distributed across Rab to ensure transparency and uphold human rights credentials,” said the Rab DG.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, also present at the event, commented that it was the former US Ambassador James F Moriarty who had called Rab the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) of Bangladesh.

“Rab has since then done an excellent job at combating terrorism. Maybe we have to look at it more closely to see how to increase accountability…but this is a great institution,” said Momen.

“Let us have a road – you tell me where the gap is and we will try to work with you,” he said.

Peter Haas also said that the Rab sanctions do not mean that the US and Bangladesh will not continue strong law enforcement security cooperation.

“We will continue to work with Bangladesh to combat violent terrorism, combat transnational crime and enhance security. We will continue our support to the transnational crime police and to the anti-terrorism unit and the specialized police units in Chattogram, Sylhet and Rajshahi. The signing of a proposed memorandum of agreement would facilitate our assistance training program and to donate new equipment to the police,” said Haas.

He also said, “The US is not perfect. We have embarked on our own democratic renewal. This journey ensures tackling our own issues with police accountability. We are inviting other countries in the world to make similar commitments.”

“Holding an election consistent with international standards is not just about ballot day – truly fair elections involve creating a space where civic discourse can take place, where journalists can investigate without fear, and the ability of the civil society institutions to advocate. In Bangladesh the elections have already started,” said Haas. He welcomed the law minister’s commitment to reform the DSA to prevent abuse of the law.

Momen responded to Haas’ comment about holding impartial elections by saying, “You are most welcome to come with your observers. We want to see and improve.”

The US ambassador also spoke about the need for signing two defence treaties called ACSA and GSOMIA that are foundational agreements for defence trade and cooperation.

He called the treaties “building blocks”. GSOMIA would set the ground rule for exchanging sensitive data about military operations, said Haas, while ACSA will allow exchange of fuel and food.

He said that they are not like the “broad vague defence agreement that Bangladesh signed with China in 2002”, referring to the “China-Bangladesh Defence Cooperation Agreement” which covers military training and defence production.

Haas also said that Bangladesh is not being able to capitalize on US relations because of labour rights violations.

“The DFC (US International Development Finance Corporation) has a US$4 billion active portfolio in South Asia across multiple sectors including clean energy, healthcare and agriculture. The DFC cannot operate in Bangladesh because of a lack of labour rights,” he said.

He added that the embassy will include the first full-time attache from the US department of commerce this summer, to increase two-way trade and investment.

Former ambassador Kazi Imtiaz Hossain, Chairman of BIISS, led the event, while former ambassadors Humayun Kabir, Tariq A. Karim, former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Dr M Sakhawat Hossain, Director Gneral of BIIS Maj Gen Mohammad Masudur Rahman and Dhaka University professor Ruksana Kibria also spoke at the event.