The United States has said it has concerns about human rights in Bangladesh, which has been ruled by a military-backed emergency government since January.

The US deputy assistant secretary of state for south Asian affairs, John Gastright, spoke on Wednesday at a roundtable discussion with newspaper editors at the end of a two-day visit to Dhaka.

During his visit he met the country's interim leader Fakhruddin Ahmed and army chief general Moeen U Ahmed.

"I was frank regarding our concerns regarding human rights and due process for those detained under the state of emergency, whether on corruption charges or accused of other violations of the emergency rules," he said.

Reliable information on rights abuses in Bangladesh has become increasingly difficult to obtain, with many journalists complaining of threatening phone calls and high levels of self-censorship by newspapers.

The government took power on January 12 a day after elections were cancelled and the state of emergency imposed.

The emergency ended months of violence over vote-rigging allegations.

The new government pledged to hold fresh polls after cleaning up Bangladesh's notoriously corrupt politics and launched a massive anti-graft drive.

Gastright said the United States welcomed the government's decision to partly lift an earlier ban on political activity.

He said he also welcomed Moeen's "repeated assurances that he and the army do not have any political ambitions."

Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has criticised the military-backed government for violence against journalists and censorhip during a curfew last month.

(Courtesy: AFP)