Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday said recent legislative initiatives by Bangladesh’s interim government risk undermining fundamental freedoms.
Instead of pursuing its pledge to reform the criminal justice system and bring accountability for serious abuses, the government is attempting to suppress the rights of supporters of the deposed leader, Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League party, the New York-based rights body said in a statement on Thursday.
“Sheikh Hasina’s government abused legal powers to silence political opponents, but using similar methods against the supporters of her Awami League party would also violate those same fundamental freedoms,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The draft legislation on enforced disappearances, on the other hand, does little to advance justice or provide answers for the hundreds of victims and families affected by disappearances under Hasina’s rule," Ganguly said.
On May 12, the interim government ordered a “temporary” ban on the activities of Awami League, using newly introduced powers under a draconian amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The ban includes, among other actions, meetings, publications and online speech supporting the party.
To build a foundation for the respect of human rights in Bangladesh, the interim government should reverse its actions to protect rights of freedom of expression of Awami League members and supporters, and focus instead on prosecuting members of the former government accused of crimes based on credible evidence, said the rights body.
"It should refrain from politically motivated pretrial detentions, and ensure that they remain the exception, only when necessary in an individual case, and not the rule,” according to the HRW.
The priority should be to deliver justice for human rights violations, particularly unlawful killings and enforced disappearances.
The government should use evidence gathered by the commission of inquiry to investigate enforced disappearances to prosecute alleged perpetrators, remove suspects in the security forces from active duty, and reveal the fate of the missing, it said.
“There is widespread anger against the Awami League for the many abuses committed during Hasina’s rule, but stripping supporters of opposition parties of their rights isn’t a way forward,” said Ganguly. “Instead, the interim government should ensure progress on revealing what happened to the disappeared and holding perpetrators accountable through fair trials.”
Meanwhile, the draft legislation to address enforced disappearances, which were widespread under the previous government, does not meet international standards and scarcely addresses accountability for past crimes, it added.
