US concerned over extra-judicial killing

The United States has expressed serious concern over the failure to investigate fully extra-judicial killings by security forces, including several deaths in custody of alleged criminals detained by RAB, reports UNB. The concern was expressed in 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington Friday. It says security forces committed extra-judicial killings and were responsible for custodial deaths, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention. "Some members of the security forces acted with impunity. Prison conditions at times were life-threatening, lengthy pre-trial detention continued to be a problem, and authorities infringed on citizens' privacy rights," the report says. About the judiciary, the report says an increasingly politicised judiciary exacerbated problems in an already overwhelmed judicial system and constrained access to justice for members of opposition parties. It says the government made limited freedom of speech and of the press, self-censorship continued, and security forces harassed journalists. The report says the government curbed freedom of assembly, and politically motivated violence remained a problem. "Official corruption and related impunity continued," the report noted. It says discrimination against women, and violence against women and children remained serious problems, as did discrimination against persons with disabilities and against persons based on their sexual orientation. Trafficking in persons remained a serious problem. The report says violence against religious and ethnic minorities still occurred, although many government and civil society leaders stated that these acts often had political or economic motivations, and could not be attributed only to religious belief or affiliation. Limits on worker rights and child labour also remained problems.