The recent detention of a prominent human rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan of Bangladesh has sparked outrage among his supporters.
Reports say Bangladesh Police has arrested Mr. Khan at his home for spreading false and fabricated information on May security force crackdown on Islamist protesters.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has protested the arrest as well.
The detained Adilur Rahman Khan is the secretary of Bangladeshi rights group Odhikar.
US Concerned with the arrest
In a press statement by Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf says the Government of the United States is deeply concerned by the August 10 detention of Adilur Rahman Khan.
The US government reported has reached out to the Government of Bangladesh for an explanation, noting that this detention has a chilling effect on Bangladeshi civil society and is reverberating negatively around the world.
“We urge Bangladeshi authorities to immediately release Adil while the government pursues any outstanding legal issues through a fair and transparent judicial process.” – Ms. Harf
She emphasizes that in a democracy it is essential that the government ensure an environment in which civil society organizations like Odhikar can freely operate.
US-Bangladesh partnership
The United States has partnered with Bangladesh in many areas, including vibrant, free media and civil society.
The US is concerned about freedom of media all over the world.
In Bangladesh, the US has meet regularly with editors and other journalists.
And there have been cases of concern where journalists have been killed, people have disappeared, people have received threats of one sort or another.
In May 2012, poverty-fighting organization CARE and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched SHOUHARDO, a combined nutritional support with women’s empowerment initiatives to reduce child stunting, a key measure of malnutrition.
Implemented by CARE from 2004 to 2010, the first phase of SHOUHARDO was the largest non-emergency USAID food security program in the world.
The program was designed to reduce malnutrition among 2 million of the poorest people in Bangladesh.
UN says two million children are suffering from acute malnutrition in Bangladesh, where one-quarter of all households are hungry.
Out of the two million wasting children between the ages of six months and five years, 500,000 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, or severe malnutrition, according to the report, which was conducted to assess the impact of soaring food prices in Bangladesh in 2008.
Nearly 60 per cent of the households surveyed said they had insufficient food over the past 12 months, with real household income plunging 12 per cent between 2005 and 2008.
Malnutrition, which can directly cause death, affects child development and increases the risk of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth.
