No Significant Changes In Human Rights Situation In Bangladesh In 2023: US

There were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Bangladesh last year, according to the "2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bangladesh". The US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour published the report early today. Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched it.

In December 2021, the US imposed sanctions on Rab and several of its senior officials for alleged human rights violations. In May last year, it announced a visa restriction policy for those undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.

At a briefing, Robert S Gilchrist, senior official in Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, said the US will continue to express concerns on the fundamental human rights issues in Bangladesh including the freedom of the press and freedom of association and urge the government to uphold those, said a senior US State Department official.

According to the report, significant human rights issues in Bangladesh included credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.

The issues also include arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political prisoners or detainees; transnational repression against individuals in another country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offences of a relative.

"There were reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings. Police policy required internal investigations of all significant uses of force by police, including actions that resulted in serious physical injury or death, usually by a professional standards unit," the report said.

The government, however, neither released official statistics on total killings by security personnel nor took transparent measures to investigate cases, it added.

The report said human rights groups expressed scepticism regarding the independence and professional standards of the units conducting these assessments. In the few known instances in which the government brought charges, those found guilty generally received administrative punishment.

It said extrajudicial killings decreased from the previous year. Domestic human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) reported eight individuals died from January to September in alleged extrajudicial killings or while in custody, including two in shootouts with law enforcement agencies and three due to physical torture before or while in custody.

According to another domestic human rights organisation, of 12 incidents of alleged extrajudicial killings between January and September, four deaths resulted from law enforcement crossfire, four persons were shot to death by law enforcement officers, and four others died from alleged torture while in custody.

The report added that there were reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities. Human rights groups and media reported that disappearances and kidnappings continued, allegedly committed by security services. Between January and September, a local human rights organisation reported 32 persons were victims of enforced disappearances.

The report also said there were serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, and enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression.

It also reported that there were serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the organisation, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and civil society organizations; restrictions on freedom of movement; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections.

It also said there were serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; serious government corruption; serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organisations.

"There were numerous reports of widespread impunity for human rights abuses. In most cases, the government did not take credible steps to identify and punish officials or security force members who may have committed human rights abuses."