Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has rejected the allegations of human rights violation made by the United States against Bangladeshi elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven of its officials.
He said, the decision of imposing the sanctions was not taken objectively rather it was based on exaggerated news sources.
The home boss made these remarks while responding to a question from reporters at an event on Saturday.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the 'Ideal Customer Honors Memorial-2021' prize distribution ceremony at Dhaka WASA's Buriganga Hall at Karwan Bazar in the city.
He said none of our organisations has violated human rights. If they do, legal action must be taken against them.
He further said every incident, however, is investigated by a magistrate if any organisation is accused of human rights violations in Bangladesh.
The US has not imposed the sanctions neutrally. Maintaining law and order is a challenging task in Bangladesh, he said.
Drug peddlers use firearms for self-defence that leads to gunfights with the members of law enforcement agencies, causing casualties, he added.
When miscreants wield firearms, our security forces are often forced to retaliate to save their own lives, which is legal,” Khan said.
Members of law enforcement agencies cannot just fire at a person, he said. “There is a judicial inquiry into all incidents of gunfights… [to find] whether there was a proper reason behind the incident or was it negligence. A case is started against the persons involved if negligence is found."
The minister said he cannot provide further details about the US sanctions as a report on it has yet to arrive at his office.
