Human rights in Bangladesh
However, constitutional and legal experts believe many of the country's laws require reform to enforce fundamental rights and reflect democratic values of the 21st century.
During the period from 2009 to 2023 under the rule of the Awami League-led government, 2,699 people were victims of extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh.
[4] Reforms were proposed in 2017 and included strengthening parliamentary supremacy, judicial independence, the separation of powers, repealing laws which restrain freedom of the press and disbanding security agencies which violate civil liberties.
[5][6][7][8] Even though Bangladesh has Islam as its state religion and has constitutional references to Hindus, Christians and Buddhists; the political system is modeled as a secular democracy.
However, the police have been slow in responding to and investigating attacks against minorities, opposition activists & supporters and purportedly brutally suppress lawful protest against the government.
In southeastern Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts remains a militarized region due to a historical insurgency.
In recent years, free speech and media freedom have been repressed by the government through laws regulating newspapers, TV channels and the internet.
[14] The right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice and practise their own religion, and to use their own language in both private and publics spheres (Article 2 (1)).
Article 6 of the constitution, which proclaims "the people of Bangladesh shall be known as Bangalees as a nation",[17] was criticized for discrimination against the country's significant non-Bengali population.
There was international outcry after the army and government planned to relocate refugee camps to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal.
[25] The constitution's proclamation of a People's republic and socialism in its preamble[26] and Article 10[27] are at odds with Bangladesh's current free market economy system, entrepreneurial class, diverse corporate sector and owners of private property.
[28] In spite of Article 38[29] calling for freedom of association, trade union leaders from the textile industry often face arbitrary arrests and politically motivated lawsuits.
[30] Forced labor is prohibited under Article 34,[31] but Bangladesh has significant challenges of human trafficking and modern slavery.
The ruling party has targeted the country's two leading newspapers The Daily Star and Prothom Alo with numerous lawsuits and has encouraged businesses to stop advertising in them.
Several journalists faced arbitrary criminal charges, often for publishing criticism of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her family or the Awami League Government.
Dilip Roy, a student activist, was detained for criticizing the Prime Minister on Facebook, but later released on bail.
On 20 June 2020, a 15-year-old child was arrested by Bangladeshi authority for criticizing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed in a Facebook post.
[41] According to Human Rights Watch, Bangladeshi authorities are perpetually detaining journalist, activist and government's critics under misuse of Digital Security Act.
[45] Although there is general freedom of assembly[29] in Bangladesh, the political opposition is often restricted from holding public meetings and rallies by the government.
On 3 January 2019, Human Rights Watch called for an investigation on attack on members of the opposition party on and before Bangladesh elections.
[46] In 2011, the Awami League-led parliament abolished the caretaker government of Bangladesh, which was intended to act as a neutral guarantor during general elections.
[56] The death penalty may be used as a punishment for crimes such as murder, sedition, offences related to possession of or trafficking in drugs, offences related to trafficking in human beings, treason, espionage, military crimes, rape, hijacking planes, sabotage, or terrorism.
[56] Bangladesh is not a state party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on abolishing the death penalty.
The decision followed public outrage over the video of a woman circulated online showing a group of men sexually assaulting her.
The Bangladesh Planning Commission has said that women are more susceptible to becoming poor after losing a male earning family member due to abandonment or divorce.
But in February 2017, a law was passed that permits girls less than 18 years of age to marry under “special circumstances,” such as “accidental” or “illegal pregnancy,” with permission from their parents and court.
In 2016, Terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the murder of Bangladesh's first LGBTQ magazine editor Xulhaz Mannan and his partner Tanay Majumdar.
Linking back in to bribery, brothel owners have been found to bribe the police to convince them that the children are at least 18, the legal age to work as a sex worker in Bangladesh.
[69] More than a quarter of sex workers in Bangladesh entered the field as a result of being sold or forced into bondage.
