Staff Reporter :
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has suggested the interim government that it should urgently implement measures to bring civilian oversight over security forces, disband the notorious Rapid Action Battalion, reform institutions in line with international human rights standards, and revise abusive laws.
The HRW on its website further stated that the interim government should ensure ongoing monitoring of Bangladesh’s human rights situation by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and establish regular reporting back to the council.
It suggested that the interim government should seek a resolution at the upcoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent mechanism to investigate and pursue accountability for recent gray abuses in Bangladesh.
The 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council begins on September 9, 2024.
The interim government should also work with OHCHR and relevant UN experts to set up an independent domestic inquiry into enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year administration, Human Rights Watch said.
This domestic mechanism should operate with UN support and oversight to ensure its independence and adherence to international human rights standards.
“Following Sheikh Hasina’s resignation amid mass protests, Bangladesh’s interim government has the heavy responsibility of accounting for the past to steer the country toward a rights-respecting future,” said Lucy McKernan, deputy UN Geneva director at Human Rights Watch.
“The government should support a Human Rights Council-backed investigation into recent abuses while also seeking UN backing for an independent domestic inquiry into the former government’s 15 years of rights violations.”
Terming the crackdown on protests as ‘deadliest in Bangladesh’s recent history,’ HRW mentioned that at least 440 individuals were killed and thousands were injured between July 15 and August 5.
Mentioning some the actions of the interim government after taking office, the government has replaced officials who had allegedly engaged in political partisanship. The Supreme Court chief justice stepped down after protests demanding his resignation. Law enforcement had collapsed after the Hasina government’s fall, leaving Hindus and other minority communities at risk of violence, but the interim government has said that most police stations are now functioning.
However, activists fear that the authorities are replicating the abuses of the previous government by arbitrarily arresting Awami League officials and supporters, including journalists, and denying due process and proper access to legal counsel, HRW said.