Most rights groups that wrote about Rab to UN lack credibility: Minister
Hasan Mahmud, information and broadcasting minister of the country, also accused some leading human rights organisations of supporting war criminals
Of the 12 human rights organisations that have written to the United Nations (UN) to exclude the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) from the UN's peacekeeping missions, only two or three are recognised ones; the rest lack credibility, said Hasan Mahmud, information and broadcasting minister.
"The matter of the letter appeared in the media more than two months after it was sent to the UN and there must be a political motive behind it," the minister added, addressing the media on Friday at Chattogram Circuit House after a meeting.
Questioning the credibility of leading human rights organisations around the world, the minister said, "I have seen Amnesty International make statements supporting war criminals and Human Rights Watch also tried to protect war criminals. But when Israeli forces indiscriminately murder Palestinians, those organisations remain silent."
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The minister added further, that the government has specific evidence the BNP has recruited lobbyists abroad.
The minister also accused Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), a civil society organisation dedicated to fighting against corruption, of having political motives.
"TIB works to fight corruption, but now they are making statements about the appointment of the election commissioner which certainly raises some questions," he said.
About Internet Protocol television (IPTV), the minister said, "We have seen that people who broadcast news on IPTV or YouTube are involved in various sorts of extortion and they exploit their employees as well. So, we have a policy prohibiting broadcasting news on IPTV."
