Dhaka: The US has said the human rights situation in Bangladesh had "worsened" as a state of emergency continued to be in effect in the country.

The State Department's annual country report on human rights said the current anti-graft campaign being spearheaded by the interim military-backed government in Bangladesh gained popular support but raised concerns if due judicial process was being followed in high-profile corruption cases.

The report, however, acknowledged that "there was a significant drop in the number of extrajudicial killings by security forces" but they were accused of serious abuses, including arbitrary arrest and detention, and harassment of journalists.

Citing countrywide data from Bangladesh, the Human Rights Practices 2007 report published yesterday claimed the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) killed 94 people throughout the year but the average number of such deaths dropped from 15 per month in 2006 to approximately eight per month during 2007.

The report said former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina of Awami League (AL) and Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were arrested after "repeated efforts of the caretaker government in the first six months since assuming power to force the two into exile failed".

The report also alleged that the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court frequently overturned politically charged decisions by the High Court Division of the Supreme Court "if those rulings went against the government".
Source : PTI