Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tariq Rahman said that people of many countries of the world, including Bangladesh, are victims of indiscriminate murders and secret killings due to one-party authoritarian dictatorship and ethnic conflict and thousands of people are disappearing. Countless people are victims of state-sponsored extrajudicial killings. Bangladesh has been turned into a slaughterhouse.

He said this in a message given on the occasion of International Human Rights Day on Sunday (December 10). On this day in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations. The United Nations declared December 10 as 'Human Rights Day' in 1950. Since then, every year on December 10, 'International Human Rights Day' has been celebrated.

On this occasion, Tariq Rahman said, "On this day, I express my sympathy to the oppressed and deprived people of different countries of the world." Profound respect for those who sacrificed themselves under the brutal oppression of the ruling autocracy while speaking out for civil liberties.

Referring to the Universal Declaration of the United Nations, he said in the speech that the human rights of all the people of all the nations of the world must be guaranteed. But in many countries, brutal dictators without public support continue to brutally attack the people of their country, ignoring the guidelines of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. Ignores public opinion just to retain power forever. The anti-people ruling group does not care about the human rights of the people. So, while creating an atmosphere of misrule, they unleash demonic oppression and suppression on the protesting masses. Those who want to speak the truth, whether they are politicians, journalists, students, workers, professionals, or anyone from civil society, are subjected to false cases and imprisonment, physical torture and injuries, and disappearances and murders.

The theme of this year's International Human Rights Day is 'Freedom, Equality and Justice for All' - which is completely absent in Bangladesh. All the dignity and rights of the citizens have been revoked today. Bangladesh is currently going through a terrible crisis and human rights are being grossly violated. People have no right to freedom of expression, assembly, and peaceful assembly. Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, false and fictitious cases, and sentencing in absentia are rampant. The illegitimate ruling coalition has taken away all the democratic rights of the people through endless bloodshed and wanton persecution. People's democratic rights are complementary to human rights. Currently, the human rights of the people of Bangladesh are below zero. In this country, not only the leaders and workers of opposition parties but also journalists, human rights activists, students, teachers, workers, women, and children have no security.

He said, most are becoming the victims of disappearances, secret killings, and extrajudicial killings. If anybody criticises the government, be it the activists of the opposition party or political analysts, participants of the talk shows are framed with false cases, some are disappearing and some are facing captivity in prison. The one-sided election of January 5, 2014, the late-night election of December 30, 2018 and now again the one-sided farce election have turned Bangladesh into a slaughterhouse. Apart from disappearances, murders, assassinations, false and organised disappearance cases have been filed against more than five million leaders and activists across the country.

Referring to the current government as illegitimate, Tariq Rahman said that the ruling group has not only made the country's law and order forces and administration into party institutions, but they have also turned the law and courts into party institutions. Now BNP and opposition party leaders are being sentenced to various terms including the death penalty across the country by making the police witnesses in the false cases arranged by the police using party judges. Even dead people are not spared from absentee cases and absentee sentences. So, in order to get rid of this anarchic misrule, we all have to unite and jump into the ongoing rights movement to establish real democracy. For the safety of the lives and property of the people of the country, the united voice of the people should be raised and the current misrule should be ended. This is our pledge on Human Rights Day declared by the United Nations.