WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement on the murder of LGBT editor and human rights activist Xulhaz Mannan in Bangladesh:

“I am outraged by the brutal murder of Xulhaz Mannan, a leading human rights activist, editor of Bangladesh’s only LGBT magazine, and someone who has worked for both our State Department and USAID.

"Real democracy is based on certain freedoms, including freedom of the press, free expression, and freedom for a person to love whomever he or she chooses.  And though violent cowards took Mannan's life, they will fail to silence his message of tolerance or stifle efforts in Bangladesh to advance freedom and equality.

"I send my deepest condolences to his family and those injured in the attack, and I urge the Bangladeshi authorities to make every possible effort to bring those responsible to justice.”

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