US lawmakers flag concerns over Awami League ban,  says it could undermine Bangladesh’s Feb polls

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New Delhi: A group of United States lawmakers on Tuesday warned Bangladesh’s interim administration over its decision to impose a total ban on the Awami League ahead of national elections scheduled in February next year, stating that the move could undermine the prospects of a free and fair poll.

They also said that reviving the “flawed International Crimes Tribunal” could damage the credibility of the electoral process and called for an inclusive and credible democratic transition.

Bangladesh chief adviser Mohammad Yunus had announced elections in Bangladesh on February 12.

The 119th Congress US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs wrote to Yunus.

The signatories included House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, South and Central Asia Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, Ranking Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Congresswoman Julie Johnson.

In the letter, they said that they welcome his (Yunus) willingness to step forward at a moment of national crisis in Bangladesh to lead an interim government ahead of elections in February of next year.

“It is vital that the interim government work with parties across the political spectrum to create the conditions for free and fair elections that allow the voice of the Bangladeshi people to be expressed peacefully through the ballot box, as well as reforms that restore confidence in the integrity and nonpartisanship of state institutions,” they said.

They also said that they were concerned that “this cannot happen if the government suspends activities of political parties or again restarts the flawed International Crimes Tribunal”.

“The Department of State and many other international observers noted that the 2018 and 2024 General Elections were not free or fair. And in a February fact-finding report, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated that security services killed 1,400 people during protests in July and August 2024,” they said referring to last year’s unrest in Bangladesh.

Genuine accountability for these acts and others should model the values of Bangladesh’s democracy, rather than continue a cycle of retaliation.

They said that freedom of association, as well as the principle of individual rather than collective criminal responsibility, are fundamental human rights.

“We are concerned that the decision to fully suspend the activity of any one political party, rather than focus on persons determined to have committed crimes or gross violations of human rights through the due process of law, is inconsistent with those principles,” the letter read.

“We hope your government or an elected successor will revisit this decision. Ultimately, the Bangladeshi people deserve to be able to choose an elected government in a free and fair election in which all political parties can participate so that their voices are represented,” they stressed.

They also pointed out that Bangladesh is a critical partner for the United States, and “we stand ready to work with you and your government to support both our bilateral relationship and Bangladesh’s democratic transition in the months ahead”.

Bangladesh had recently banned all activities of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League under a revised Anti-Terrorism Act, pending the completion of trials against the party’s leaders and activists by the International Crimes Tribunal.