14 November 2023
International rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned Monday’s verbal attack on Bangladeshi rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan and other panellists by pro-government supporters in an UPR side event on Bangladesh at the United Nations.
Amnesty International’s South Asia regional office condemned the verbal attack in a statement posted on X, formerly twitter, Monday night and said that the Universal Periodic Review side event on Bangladesh was co-organised by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.
‘Amnesty strongly condemns the verbal attack on panellists, including Adilur Rahman Khan, by pro-government supporters at a UPR side event on Bangladesh co-organised by Amnesty International and other human rights groups at the UN today,’ read the post.
‘Panellists were discussing persecution of human rights defenders, shrinking civic space and impunity in Bangladesh when they were disrupted by pro-government supporters accusing them of lying and calling on them to stop,’ it read.
‘That a human rights defender can face such hostility and harassment even at the premises of UN speaks volumes about the worsening state of civic space in Bangladesh,’ it said.
‘The Bangladeshi government must ensure that Adilur Rahman Khan and other panelists are not subjected to further reprisals when they return to Bangladesh,’ it said.