Human rights situation stabilised in Bangladesh, but some concerns persist: 2024 US report
Credible reports by human rights organisations and media documented serious human rights abuses by the former ruling Awami League party’s student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League in July and August
The human rights situation in the country stabilised after some incidents in August last year following the July uprising, yet some concerns persisted, says a report of the US Department of State.
According to the report titled "2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bangladesh", significant human rights issues – primarily under the previous government – included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention; transnational repression against individuals in another country by the previous government, serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; significant restrictions on workers' freedom of association; violence or threats against labour activists or union members; and significant presence of the worst forms of child labour.
"There were numerous reports of widespread impunity for human rights abuses under the previous government, which rarely took credible steps to identify and punish officials or security force members who committed human rights abuses," reads the report.
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After weeks of mass student protests and hundreds of people killed in clashes with police and Awami League party youth wings, on 5 August, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
On 8 August, the president swore in an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in the role of "Chief Adviser".
After the fall of the previous government, the Interim Government arrested members of the previous government accused of committing human rights abuses.
Credible reports by human rights organisations and media documented serious human rights abuses by the former ruling Awami League party's student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, in July and August.
The Interim Government worked with the United Nations and used both its ordinary justice system and the Bangladeshi International Criminal Tribunal to hold the perpetrators accountable, adds the State Department report.
