The new administration pledges to “eradicate every opportunity” for rights abuse by law enforcers.
Zia Chowdhury/Dhaka
Human rights activists in Bangladesh are raising alarms about extrajudicial killings and other in-custody deaths of suspects recurring since the interim government came to power.
The administration headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus took office last August after a student-led uprising toppled the autocratic government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Her 15-year rule was tainted by widespread allegations of officer-involved killings and enforced disappearances.
Ain-o-Shalish Kendra, a local rights organization, which was vocal in its criticism of abuses committed under Hasina, claims that at least 19 people have been killed by law enforcement agencies since Aug. 8, 2024 – when Yunus took office – including at least five in January.
“Those people either got killed in so-called gunfights or exchange of fire, or they were tortured while being in custody and later brought dead to hospitals,” the group’s senior coordinator, Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir, told BenarNews.
Shafiqul Alam, spokesman for interim government leader Yunus, issued a statement outlining the administration’s efforts against extrajudicial killings and other abuse.
“Upholding human rights in every sphere of national life is a core mission of the current government, which includes some of the top rights activists in the country,” he said, adding the government had set up commissions to reform the criminal justice system.
“Most of the commissions have submitted their reports. The interim government will hold meaningful dialogue with the political parties over these reports in an effort to eradicate every opportunity for human rights abuses in police interrogation, crime management and judicial procedure,” Shafiqul said.
Yunus’ government has pledged to implement institutional reforms and put the country back on a democratic path as it prepares Bangladesh for the next general election. However, crime has surged in the seven months since Hasina fell from power, with the interim government being criticized for failing to safeguard law and order.
Meanwhile, rights activists have questioned the continued killings under the interim government.
In a report filed in January, New York-based Human Rights Watch said law enforcement abuses were a problem during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure as prime minister before she was forced to flee the country on Aug. 5, 2024, but they have not gone away.
“Troublingly, security forces in Bangladesh are replicating familiar patterns of abuses from the Hasina administration,” the report said.
Elsewhere, A.S.M. Nasiruddin Elan, director of human rights organization Odhikar, called for the Yunus government to act.
“This should not continue. We urge the government to identify everyone involved in killings and bring them to justice,” he told BenarNews.
“We also keep eyes on ‘Operation Devil Hunt.’”
Since the operation was launched on Feb. 8, over 12,500 people have been arrested. The administration dropped “Devil Hunt” from its name in the face of mounting criticism. Leaders of the Awami League (AL), which ruled under Hasina’s leadership, claimed the arrests targeted the party.
“Thousands of Awami League leaders and activists were arrested in the name of ‘Devil Hunt,’” Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, the party’s organizing secretary, told BenarNews.
Killings
Among publicized cases of recent killings at the hands of police and military forces Touhidul Islam, 40, a leader of the youth-wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), died in Cumilla on Feb. 1 after being taken into custody the day before by a military unit. Family members allege he was tortured.
“There are several bruises on his body from waist to feet. There are numerous marks of torture on different parts of the body including abdomen, chest, back, legs and throat. He was beaten throughout the night and brought to a hospital in the morning after dying,” his brother, Abul Kalam, told BenarNews.
That same day, the defense ministry’s Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) announced the formation of a high-level committee to determine the cause of death. In addition, the commander of the military unit that took Touhidul into custody was relieved of his duties.
In a written statement, ISPR said appropriate action would be taken if an investigation determined those responsible for Touhidul’s death, but the directorate declined additional comment until the investigation was finished.
Touhidul’s survivors were not satisfied, adding police would only tell them the investigation was ongoing.
“They all promised a fair probe and action, we haven’t seen anything as of now,” Kalam said.
“We have lodged a case accusing five named and some unnamed people. None has been arrested yet.
“How long it will take, God knows.”
More recently, two men were killed on Feb. 20 during a reported exchange of gunfire with law enforcers in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area. ISPR identified the dead men as Md. Jumman and Miraz Hossain.
Nur Khan Liton, a member of Commission for Enforced Disappearance and former leader of Ain-o-Shalish Kendra, noted that instead of curbing extrajudicial killings, the number had gone up since August.
“And the government is not taking any visible measures to minimize these extra-judicial killings. We have been told the same old narratives in every custodial death, crossfire or gunfight case,” he told BenarNews, adding law enforcers claim they were forced to return fire.
“It’s alarming and disappointing at the same time.”
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