United Nations experts have expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating human rights scenario in Bangladesh. As per a statement released on Tuesday, these experts laid out their issues as the UN Human Rights Council concluded its regular review of Bangladesh’s human rights record, identifying a harsh clampdown on human rights across various aspects (OHCHR.org).
The statement spotlights a worrying rise in political violence, the arrests of high-profile opposition figures, and the broad-based arbitrary detention of political activists ahead of the national elections scheduled for 2024. The exploitation of the judicial system against journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society leaders was specifically stressed in the statement (JURIST).
Post criticism of the Digital Security Act (DSA), which was highly criticised for containing imprecise and extensive provisions allowing authorities to police online space, the government has committed to significant legal amendments in response to concerns underscored by human rights organisations. However, experts noted that several thousand cases related to freedom of expression are yet to be resolved under the DSA. Moreover, the proposed Cyber Security Act fails to effectively tackle all threats to freedom of speech, leaving substantive gaps in preserving this crucial right (CIRT.gov.bd).
The experts also highlighted the recent crackdown on workers demanding fair wages in Bangladesh. Demonstrations by workers asking for better pay, triggered by a hike in the minimum wage, have encountered violent retaliation from the police(JURIST).
With Bangladesh coming under inspection in the forthcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the UN Human Rights Council, there is a call for Bangladesh to address these distressing human rights issues. Amnesty International too has joined the chorus appealing to UN member states to use the UPR to hold the Bangladeshi government accountable for the escalating crisis. Bangladesh is slated to be one of the 14 states reviewed by the UPR Working Group in its next session from November 6 to 17 (Amnesty International).