Rights groups accuse Bangladesh's interim govt of gagging dissent voices

Dhaka/New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) International and domestic rights groups on Thursday accused Muhammad Yunus-led Bangladesh's interim government of gagging dissent voices, particularly launching a crackdown on supporters of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

"Bangladesh's interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, is increasingly using the recently amended counterterrorism law to arrest alleged supporters of the deposed Awami League government," New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The rights group urged the UN human rights team in Bangladesh to "immediately seek the release of those arbitrarily detained and encourage the authorities to uphold rights and prosecute all those who use unlawful political violence".

Bangladesh in July signed a three-year agreement with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to open a mission in Dhaka “to support the promotion and protection of human rights”.

The HRW comments coincided with a Bangladesh Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) report published on Thursday expressing deep concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in the country during the first nine months of 2025.

The HRSS cited persistent political violence, mob killings, attacks on journalists, and violations of freedom of expression.

Yunus was sworn in as the Chief Adviser of the interim government on August 8, 2024, three days after then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime was toppled in a violent street movement dubbed the July Uprising led by Students against Discrimination (SAD).

After assuming the power, he disbanded Awami League, a step which HRW said was taken “using new authority under draconian amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act”.

The ban includes prohibitions on meetings, publications, and online speech supporting the party and is being used to arrest Awami League members and peaceful activists.

"Thousands have been arrested under the interim government, many on dubious murder allegations, while scores are being held under the Anti-Terrorism Act,” the HRW said, adding that several of them alleged mistreatment in custody, including lack of access to medical care.

The HRW particularly noted the arrest of 16 distinguished 1971 Liberation War veterans, journalists, academics and former bureaucrats on August 28 at a discussion in Dhaka organised by Mancha 71, a platform that celebrates Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The report noted that one of the participants called the police for protection, but “instead of arresting the disrupters, the police detained 16 participants in the event, some of them in their 70s and 80s".

  “After initially telling family members and lawyers that they were holding the detainees for their safety, the police arrested them under the anti-terrorism law,” the report said.

  The Anti-Terrorism Act was enacted in 2009 under the Awami League government, particularly to prosecute Islamist militants.

  Yunus has denied any restrictions on freedom of expression.

The rights group alleged that the government was “also been unable to contain conservative Muslim interest groups that have engaged in violence to press their demands, ranging from targeting alleged Awami League supporters to opposing women's rights”.

Referring to the leading Bangladeshi rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (Centre for Law and Mediation or ASK), the HRW said at least 152 people were lynched in mob attacks since January.

The HRW said the Bangladeshi government should stop abusing the anti-terrorism law, which is “just becoming political repression by another name” and “the interim government should instead focus on creating conditions for safe and participatory elections”.

According to HRSS data, at least 130 people were killed in 239 incidents of mob violence, while 61 inmates reportedly died in prison custody, “many under questionable circumstances”.

  The report further noted 22 attacks on minority communities, involving vandalism of temples, homes, and idols, and over 50 incidents of attacks and desecration at shrines of Sufi saints across the country.

The HRSS also recorded 340 cases of journalist harassment, including two killings, 209 assaults, and multiple instances of intimidation and arrests under the Cyber Security Act 2023.

  Hasina, 78, left the country for India on August 5, 2024, when her government was ousted. She faces multiple cases in Bangladesh. PTI AR ZH ZH