POLITICAL ARRESTS AND HARASSMENT IN BANGLADESH

That this House notes the recent arrest of the Acting General Secretary of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) Mr Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as he was leaving the central office of the Party to attend a meeting with the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Mr Robert Blake at the residence of the BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia; further notes this is part ofa pattern of arrests and harassment of senior political figures in the BNP, including Mr Alamgir, in advance of the elections in 2014; further notes that there appears to be a deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh as tensions rise in advance of the elections; expresses its profound concern about these developments; and calls on the Foreign Secretary to urge the Bangladesh government to do all in its power to reverse this situation and to ensure that the road to the elections in 2014 is marked by a new spirit of respect for all political trends and that the run up to the elections and the elections themselves are conducted on a level playing field and are free, fair and participatory.