Newsman: Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Bill Huizenga and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Chair and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, sent a letter to Dr. Mohammed Yunus, Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, expressing concern over the total ban of a political party ahead of elections in February. Cosigners of the letter include Rep. Julie Johnson and Tom Suozzi.
Senior members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee sent the bipartisan letter to Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus expressing concern amid the crisis in Bangladesh ,on December 23,2025.
Genuine accountability for these acts and others should model the values of Bangladesh’s democracy, rather than continue a cycle of retaliation, the letter said.
“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.”
“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. We are concerned that this cannot happen if the government suspends activities of political parties or again restarts the flawed International Crimes Tribunal,” the letter by Gregory W Meeks, Bill Huizenga, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Julie Johnson and Thomas R Suozzi said.
“We welcome your 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. We are concerned that this cannot happen if the government suspends activities of political parties or again restarts the flawed International Crimes Tribunal.
Mentioning the findings of the Department of State that the 2018 and 2024 elections in Bangladesh were not free and fair, US lawmakers remarks that keeping a party banned, the next election will also not be fare and free.
“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 1400 people during protests in July and August 2024.
