6 Congressmen write to Biden over issues in Bangladesh

Six US Congressmen have written to US President Joe Biden, calling for urgent actions to stop the "human rights abuses" by the Bangladesh government and "give the people of Bangladesh the best possible chance for free and fair parliamentary elections".

Referring to reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and the UN, they also mentioned "increasingly repudiated democratic systems", rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, persecution of minorities, shrinking space for freedom of speech and attacks on peaceful protesters.

They stressed the need for appropriate measures so people in Bangladesh can exercise their voting rights freely in the upcoming election. The Congressmen are Scott Perry, Barry Moore, Warren Davidson, Bob Good, Tim Burchett and Keith Self. On June 2, Bob Good issued a statement on his official website including the letter, dated May 25.

Earlier, two identical letters containing their call were doing the rounds on social media last week. But as there were speculations about the authenticity of the letters, issued on two different dates -- May 17 and May 25 -- The Daily Star tried to find out more about the issue.

The newspaper sent emails, attaching the letters, to the offices of all the six Congressmen on May 31, but did not yet get any reply. It also called the office of Congressman Bob Good (VA-05) on May 31. Staffers there said a letter on Bangladesh had indeed been sent to the US president.

Bob Good's June 2 statement says that the letter was led by Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10) and signed by Rep. Bob Good (VA-05), Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02), Rep. Tim Burchett (TN-02), Rep. Warren Davidson (OH-08), and Rep. Keith Self (TX-03).

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