Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said that the interim government is committed to uphold human rights and freedom of speech in the country.
He made this comment when several senior officials of leading human rights organizations came to meet at a hotel in New York on Wednesday (September 25) local time.
The meeting discussed the July-August uprising and the prosecution and accountability of atrocities and human rights violations committed during Sheikh Hasina's long 15-year dictatorship.
Human rights officials stressed the need for more investigations into the nearly 3,000 extrajudicial killings carried out during the dictatorship.
They called for security sector reforms, repeal of the Cyber Security Act and unimpeded access to justice and accountability for detention centers for victims of enforced disappearances under Sheikh Hasina's regime.
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights President Kerry Kennedy led a delegation of nine human rights officials. Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard also attended the meeting.
Callamard said the interim government should "send a strong message that this is a new Bangladesh."
Prof. Yunus briefly described how the liberties and human rights of citizens were deprived during the previous dictatorial regime and what his government has done so far in establishing human rights in the country.
He said that his government has formed several commissions including a police reform commission for important reforms and institutional changes in Bangladesh.
The Chief Adviser pledged that the interim administration would uphold freedom of speech, noting that the interim government would welcome any criticism of its actions.
Dr. Yunus said that the current government is not disturbed by any criticism. In fact we invite criticism. The government will not suppress anyone's voice in the country.
Hong Kong-based former human rights activist Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman and Human Rights Watch senior researcher Julia Bleckner also spoke at the meeting.