Says HRW reviewing interim govt’s records after one year
The interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus is falling behind on its promise to improve human rights in Bangladesh a year after mass protests ousted the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
"The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled," said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at HRW, in a statement on Wednesday.
While some of the fear and repression that marked the Awami League's 15-year rule and abuses such as widespread enforced disappearances appear to have ended, the interim government has resorted to arbitrary detentions targeting political rivals and failed to carry out meaningful reforms.
"The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights," she added.
Detailed recommendations submitted by the 11 reform commissions alongside inputs from the UN human rights office and various rights activists are still pending, HRW said.
Meanwhile, the government is facing enormous challenges including an alarming surge in mob violence, political violence and harassment of journalists by political parties and other non-state groups such as religious hardliners hostile to women's rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
On July 26–27, mobs vandalised at least 14 homes belonging to members of the Hindu community in Rangpur.
Rights violations also continue in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, HRW said.
It referred to recent Gopalganj violence in which five people were killed and said, police later arbitrarily detained hundreds of alleged AL supporters and filed 10 murder cases against more than 8,400 mostly unnamed people.
The government denied carrying out "mass arrests".
Between August 6 and September 25, 2024, police lodged cases against 92,486 people, most of them related to murder.
Nearly 400 former ministers, members of parliament and other AL officials have been named in over 1,170 cases, which also include hundreds of unnamed individuals.
For instance, former Dhaka North mayor Atiqul Islam, detained since October 2024 in at least 68 murder-related cases, but 36 of these incidents occurred while he was abroad, HRW said.
As in most other cases, the authorities have not filed charges.
Detainees in other high-profile political cases have also cited baseless grounds for arrest and accused the authorities of denying them medical care and bail.
The first high-profile trial, involving Hasina and two others, is set for August 3, but thousands remain in jail without evidence or trial dates.
Many cite arbitrary arrest, denial of bail and lack of medical care, HRW said.
A commission formed in August 2024 to probe enforced disappearances during Hasina's rule has received 1,800 complaints, but faces resistance from security agencies, with evidence reportedly destroyed or withheld.
Several senior officials fled abroad after the interim government took office.
The New York-based rights group urged the interim government to end arbitrary detention, prosecute abusive security personnel and disband Rab.
The HRW called on foreign governments and the UN to support the interim government through targeted sanctions on alleged abusers.
The other governments should prosecute individuals allegedly implicated in serious abuses who have left Bangladesh, including under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
And they should make clear that Bangladeshi participation in UN peacekeeping operations is contingent on ensuring accountability for grave violations of international human rights law, HRW said.
"No one is in any doubt that Yunus's interim government faces enormous challenges, but more needs to be done now to ensure a real and lasting change in Bangladesh's human rights situation," Ganguly said.
