Excerpt of the Government communication:

The JUA made a couple of reference about one of its source i.e. ODHIKAR. It being registered under NGO Affairs Bureau, has been working on human rights issues in Bangladesh since 1995. ODHIKAR is widely known for its disproportionate bias and prejudice against Bangladesh, in particular the ruling party Awami league, which is evident in its various reports. Besides, one of the top members of ‘Odhikar’ was earlier appointed by the BNP-Jamaat Govt as the Deputy Attorney General, which should provide disqualification for the UN human rights mechanism to accept it as an objective and neutral organization for reasons of its inherent biasness and motivation. The JUA quoted allegations of reprisal against Odhikar. Whatsoever, should there be any incident of intimidation or reprisals, as experienced by the concerned organization, judicial intervention needs to be sought immediately, rather than trying to raise allegation supported by inadequate information. Hence, ,the Joint Urgent Appeal might ponder to have retrospective analysis on what prompted the drawing of conclusion by itself that ODHIKAR’s cooperation with the UN human rights mechanism has been considered as anti- State and anti-Government activity.