Contact the State Department

Bangladesh is on the brink of civil war. Muslims are being targeted by the government and the government-led War Crimes Tribunal. International pressure needs to be put on the Bangladesh government to: 1) change the Tribunal and ensure that it is transparent and that fair trials are administered and 2) to take the necessary measures to reduce the violence in the country. 

We must act now to get the State Department to put pressure on Bangladesh. 

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO

  1. Write to and call the Secretary of State John Kerry, highlighting the human rights concerns in Bangladesh. 
  2. Request that the United States exert the necessary pressure on the Bangladesh government to increase the due process standards and transparency of the Tribunal and take the necessary peaceful actions to quell the violence in the country. 
  3. Write to and call the Bangladesh Desk and the South and Central Asian Affairs Committee at the Department of State requesting that it requires the United States to exercise the necessary diplomatic pressure on the Bangladesh government. 
  4. Highlight the fact that the example being set by the government and the Tribunal can set a very bad precedent in Bangladesh and throughout the region. 
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE 
Secretary of State John Kerry
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Phone: (202) 647-6575

Bangladesh Desk at the Department of State
Phone: (202) 647-9516 & (202) 647-1450

South and Central Asian Affairs Committee at the Department of State
The Honorable Robert O. Blake
Assistant Secretary
South and Central Asian Affairs
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

WHAT TO SAY
  1. More than 250,000 cases have been booked against Islamic scholars and activists while 30,000 of them are already in detention. 
  2. Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Bangladesh's most renowned Quranic scholar, has been sentenced to death by an illegitimate and corrupt Tribunal. 
  3. The judges who delivered the verdict had not heard all the evidence and witness testimonies. It is apparent that the verdict was pre-ordained. 
  4. More than 70 people have been killed during riots after the sentence was announced on Feb. 28, 2013. The government has not acted to quell the violence. 
  5. While the local media is extremely polarized on reporting the incidents in Bangladesh, the international media has not fully explored or understood the underlying issues that are causing the violence in Bangladesh.