United News of Bangladesh

Deputy Asia Director at the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Meenakshi Ganguly on Thursday said Bangladesh’s interim government has taken significant strides towards a democratic and rights-respecting future, but its progress could evaporate without deep institutional reform and international support. “The interim government needs to protect Rohingya refugees, support credible investigations and reparations for enforced disappearances and provide for civilian oversight over security forces,” Ganguly said. Arrest warrant for Hasina: HRW calls for amending ICT law to ensure fair trials; opposes ban on party Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel Prize laureate Mohammed Yunus, has set up a commission to investigate enforced disappearances and pledged reforms and accountability for rights abuses under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2025 on Thursday. The interim government should reform institutions in line with international human rights standards with the help of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, disband the notorious Rapid Action Battalion, reform security forces to ensure independent oversight and accountability, and pursue justice for the victims of enforced disappearances and their families, said the HRW, adding that interim government pledged accountability and credible elections. Bangladesh shipbreaking industry lacks adequate oversight: HRW It should also ensure unfettered access for human rights monitors to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to register Rohingya refugees so that they can access protection, medical care, and food rations, it said. During the crackdowns on student-led protests over three weeks in July and August, over 1,000 people were killed and many thousands injured due to excessive and indiscriminate use of ammunition by security forces. For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies, according to HRW. Probe into enforced disappearances: HRW says Bangladesh should seek expertise, technical assistance from UN Activists have raised concerns that security forces have continued to carry out abuses, including arbitrary arrests of opposition supporters and journalists and denying them due process and proper access to legal counsel. While the interim government acceded to the United Nations Convention on Enforced Disappearances, security forces have failed to release those unlawfully detained or provide answers to their families about what happened to them, said the HRW. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled Myanmar and are living in refugee camps are at risk of violence at hands of armed groups and gangs. Unregistered refugees risk hunger and do not seek health care out of fear that they will be returned to Myanmar.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sought urgent investigations into Rohingya leader Mohibullah’s killing along with other attacks on Rohingya activists in the camps. “Mohibullah was a vital voice for the community of Rohingya who had suffered unimaginable loss and pain when they arrived as refugees in Bangladesh,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch on Thursday.  Read: Mohib's murder: US, UK envoys express deep shock “He always defended the rights of the Rohingya to safe and dignified returns and to have a say in the decisions concerning their lives and future." Mohibullah’s death undermines not only the struggle of Rohingya refugees for greater rights and protection in the refugee camps, but also their efforts to safely return to their homes in Myanmar, Ganguly said.  Read: Rohingya leader Mohibullah assassinated Mohibullah, 46, chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday night. Mohibullah had served as a leader among the nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, documenting the Myanmar military’s crimes against the Rohingya and advocating for the refugees’ rights in international forums.