BD govt vows to protecting human rights meaningless:HRW
Staff Reporter :
Human Rights Watch on Thursday said the government’s commitments to protecting human rights for all is meaningless due to mass political arrest, enforced disappearance and torture of political opponents continues.
“Ongoing mass political arrests, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, and torture of political opponents and critics make the Bangladesh government’s commitments to ‘protecting human rights for all’ meaningless,” said Julia Bleckner, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch said on Thursday on its website.
“The only way for the government to show genuine commitment to human rights is for it to act on its obligations under international law, including by addressing serious security force abuses and putting an immediate end to harassment and abuse of political opponents, critics, and human rights defenders,” she said It has also urged the Bangladesh government saying it should seriously respond to concerns regarding grave abuses and the crackdown on civil society raised by member states during Bangladesh’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The review took place amid a violent ongoing crackdown by Bangladesh security forces ahead of the 2024 general election, it said on its website.
Instead of independently investigating allegations and holding those responsible to account the Bangladesh government rewards those who are complicit in these violations, including officers with command responsibility, HRW said.
During the review, the Bangladesh delegation dismissed evidence of excessive force during recent electoral violence, stating that “responses from law enforcement agencies were minimal, reasonable, and restrained.”
The government additionally claimed that there had been no arbitrary detentions and that arrests had been made “without any political consideration,” despite mass arbitrary arrests of the political opposition including almost 10,000 opposition members and activists over the last few weeks.
On November 14, UN experts stated that “as Bangladesh heads towards national elections in early 2024, we are deeply disturbed by the sharp rise in political violence, arrests of senior opposition leaders, mass arbitrary detention of thousands of political activists, use of excessive force by the authorities and internet shutdowns to disrupt protests, and allegations of harassment, intimidation, and unlawful detention of family members as a retaliatory measure.”
According to Bangladeshi human rights monitors, security forces have carried out over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009.
While some people were later released, produced in court, or killed, nearly 100 people remain missing.
Families of victims describe police and other security forces’ outright refusal to file complaints or conduct a legitimate investigation, at times even citing “orders from above.”
The government should also invite other relevant UN experts-including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or punishment-to investigate and make appropriate recommendations to ensure justice and accountability, HRW said.
