• Human Rights in Bangladesh
    Bangladesh’s overall human rights situation worsened in 2012, as the government narrowed political and civil society space, shielded abusive security forces from accountability, and ignored calls to reform laws and procedures in flawed war crimes and mutiny trials. The security forces disguised extrajudicial killings as “crossfire” killings. Opposition members and political activists “disappeared.” Flawed trials against those accused of war crimes in the 1971 war for independence continued. When Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh from persecution in Burma, the government pushed back boatloads of refugees, insisting that it had no obligation to provide them sanctuary.
  • Bangladesh: End Violence Over War Crimes Trials
    The Bangladeshi government and the Jamaat-e-Islaami party need to act urgently to ensure that security forces and party supporters do not engage in further acts of violence, which has already led to the death of over 40 people since February 28.
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Bangladesh

  • Bangladesh: End Violence Over War Crimes Trials
    Mar 1, 2013
    The Bangladeshi government and the Jamaat-e-Islaami party need to act urgently to ensure that security forces and party supporters do not engage in further acts of violence, which has already led to the death of over 40 people since February 28.
  • Bangladesh: Post-Trial Amendments Taint War Crimes Process
    Feb 14, 2013
    Retroactive legislation that violates fair trial standards undermines the legitimacy of the work of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
  • Bangladesh: Government Backtracks on Rights
    Feb 1, 2013
    Bangladesh’s human rights situation worsened in 2012 as the government sought to narrow political and civil society space, continued to shield security forces from prosecution for abuses, failed to investigate disappearances and killings, and announced stringent rules to monitor non-governmental organizations, Human Rights Watch said in its 2013 World Report released today.
  • Bangladesh: Find Abducted Witness
    Jan 16, 2013
    (New York, January 17, 2013) – The Bangladeshi authorities should immediately explain what actions they have taken to locate Shukho Ranjan Bali, a witness who defense lawyers and witnesses say was abducted from the gates of the war crimes courthouse in Dhaka on November 5, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. More than two months after his disappearance, there is no news about Bali’s whereabouts or condition. The witnesses say he was last seen in police custody.
  • Laws Hurting Bangladesh Women Linger on the Books
    Dec 26, 2012
    Successive governments in Bangladesh have allowed harsh, discriminatory personal laws to persist. After a year of interviews, Aruna Kashyap finds women trapped in abusive marriages or propelled into poverty after divorce or separation.
  • Bangladesh: Retrial Needed in Sayedee Case
    Dec 13, 2012
    Frequent changes to the three-judge panel in the war crimes trial of Delwar Hossain Sayedee mean that a fair trial is no longer possible and a new trial should be held.
  • Bangladesh: Investigate Alleged Abduction of War Crimes Witness
    Nov 13, 2012
    The Bangladeshi authorities should urgently investigate the alleged abduction on November 5, 2012, of a witness at the gates of the war crimes court in Dhaka.
  • UPR Submission: Bangladesh
    Oct 31, 2012

     

    Bangladesh’s human rights situation has seen little improvement since its first UPR review in 2009. A key undertaking in the 2009 UPR was to take a “zero tolerance” stand against abuses by security forces, and bring an end to impunity. Yet extrajudicial killings by the country’s security forces continue with impunity. 

  • Bangladesh: Mass Trials Do Not Bring Justice
    Oct 24, 2012
    The Bangladeshi authorities should halt ongoing mass trials, related to the 2009 mutiny by members of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), which have been proven repeatedly to violate basic fair trial standards.
  • Bangladesh: End Harassment of War Crimes Defense Counsel
    Oct 17, 2012
    The raid, without any justification being given, by armed police on the offices of a prominent defense lawyer in the war crimes trials taking place in Bangladesh is a grave affront to the basic tenets of fair trials.
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