VP/HR — Human rights situation in Bangladesh
28.4.2016
Question for written answer E-003439-16
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
Ilhan Kyuchyuk (ALDE)
Recently in Bangladesh two LGBTI human rights activists were killed by unknown men. Xulhaz Mannan, editor of Bangladesh's only LGBTI magazine and USAID employee, and Tonoy Mahbub, a prominent LGBTI human rights activist, were hacked to death in the latest attack in a wider campaign of violence waged by extremists in recent years targeting civil society leaders, religious minorities, foreign citizens and atheists. The killings of Mannan and Mahbub bring the number of liberals and secular thinkers hacked to death in the country this year to nine. There is no doubt that these barbaric attacks run counter to freedom of expression, other basic human rights and liberal values in Bangladesh.
1. What action will the HR/VP take to urge the Government of Bangladesh to launch a thorough investigation and prosecute those responsible for the attack? 2. What steps will the HR/VP take to protect human rights activists and to ensure respect for human rights in Bangladesh?