Bangladesh: Criminalisation of activists and crackdown on protests continue following one-sided elections

In December 2023, the CIVICUS Monitor downgraded Bangladesh’s civic space to ‘closed’, its worst rating. The downgrade is the result of a massive government crackdown on opposition politicians and independent critics in the run-up to national elections.

Over the year, the authorities targeted human rights defenders, protesters and other critics, using intimidation, violence, arrest and torture. Authorities also targeted journalists exposing state abuses and shut down critical media outlets. A new Cyber Security Act, rather than freeing online expression, retained most of the repressive language of the previous draconian Digital Security Act used to criminalise thousands of online critics.

As documented by Human Rights Watch, the authorities tightened repression ahead of national elections. Security forces carried out mass arrests of opposition members and in some cases responded to protests with excessive force. The arrests were to ensure convictions of opposition members so they would be disqualified from contesting the elections.

With the opposition boycotting the elections – due to the government’s refusal to allow a neutral caretaker administration to oversee the elections – Sheikh Hasina secured her fifth term as Bangladeshi prime minister. Hasina’s Awami League (AL) won 222 seats while independent candidates secured a total of 63 seats. The Jatiya Party managed to secure just 11 of the 300 parliamentary seats.

Almost all the winning independent contenders were people who had been rejected by the ruling party but were asked by the party leadership to stand as “dummy candidates” to give the election a competitive veneer in the eyes of the world. Official figures suggested a low voter turnout of about 40 percent, though critics say even those numbers may be inflated.

Following the elections, UN experts urged the government to carry out major human rights reforms to reverse repressive trends in the country and restore political dialogue and participation. The UN experts were alarmed at reports of widespread attacks, harassment and intimidation of civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and political activists, and said that in the lead up to the elections, reportedly some 25,000 opposition leaders and supporters were arrested.

On 26th March 2024, Bangladesh’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council was adopted. Among the recommendations the government did not accept were calls to amend or repeal the Cyber Security Act, to establish an independent monitoring and investigation mechanism to address allegations of human rights violations committed by police and military personnel and to accept visits by UN special procedures. However, the government accepted recommendations to ensure that human rights defenders, journalists and civil society have a safe and enabling environment and can operate freely without fear of reprisals.

There was a crackdown on the opposition around the elections, including cases of arbitrary arrests, torture and unlawful killings. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was convicted and sentenced on frivolous grounds and is facing more charges, while activist Shamim Ashraf was charged under the new Cyber Security Act for some posters critical of the local government. There were restrictions on the media and attacks on journalists around the elections. The police also cracked down on protests by garment workers and the opposition.

Association

Crackdown on the political opposition

Leading up to the elections, Human Rights Watch reported that the government had arrested thousands of leaders and supporters of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP, in an overt attempt to incapacitate the competition and disqualify opposition leaders from participating. Many were allegedly “disappeared” when police arrested and kept them in unlawful detention for days or weeks before eventually producing them in court.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), there were also reports of detained opposition activities being tortured and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment while in prison. At least nine opposition activists died in prisons while in arbitrary detention between 25th November 2023 and 5th January 2024.

FIDH also reported that between October and January 2023, protests organised by the BNP were met with excessive force by law enforcement agencies, resulting in 17 people being killed and over 8,200 injured. Police used tear gas, sticks, batons and rubber bullets to crack down on protests.

In March 2024, several political leaders and activists, mostly from the BNP, alleged that they were unnecessarily kept waiting or that their release was delayed inside prisons for hours or days despite their bail documents reaching the authorities. They alleged that the prison authorities delayed their release until they received clearance from different intelligence agencies.

Judicial harassment and conviction of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus (pictured above) was convicted of violating Bangladesh’s labour laws on 1st January 2024. He and three of his Grameen Telecom colleagues were sentenced to six months in jail for failing to create a workers’ welfare fund in the company. All four deny the charges and were immediately granted bail pending appeals.

Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank and was a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006. However, he has earned the enmity of longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina - who was once seen as a political rival - and who has made several scathing verbal attacks against him.

Yunus says the government is engaged in a campaign of judicial harassment against him. He is facing more than 100 other charges over labour law violations and alleged corruption.

Irene Khan, a United Nations special rapporteur, told AFP the conviction was “a travesty of justice. A social activist and Nobel laureate who brought honour and pride to the country is being persecuted on frivolous grounds.”

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) denounced the conviction, while Amnesty International said that initiating criminal proceedings against Mohammad Yunus and his colleagues is a blatant abuse of labour laws and the justice system and a form of political retaliation for his work and dissent. On 28th January 2024, 247 global leaders including 127 Nobel laureates wrote a third open letter to the Prime Minister calling for her to end this travesty of justice.

The harassment has continued even after the verdict. On 15th February 2024, over eight non-profit organisations out of 16 founded by Yunus and housed inside the Grameen Telecom Bhaban building in Dhaka were forcefully taken over. They also locked staff out of these offices . Yunus said police refused to register a criminal case regarding the apparent takeover.

On 2nd April 2024, Yunus was in court again as chairman of Grameen Telecom for the hearing of a case over alleged embezzlement of Tk 252.2 million (USD 2,296,322) from dividends for the company’s employees.

Activist charged under new Cyber Security Act

Activist and poet Shamim Ashraf was arrested on 18th February 2024 for designing posters allegedly critical against the Mymensingh City Corporation and its mayor.

The city corporation authorities allege in the case that Ashraf designed posters as propaganda against the city corporation using the logo of Mymensingh City Corporation between 7th and 18th February and pasted those posters at different places in the city. The posters were found in Shamim’s computer and other devices. According to reports, the posters had wordings such as ‘City dwellers want servers, not exploiters’ or ‘Why are people burdened with holding tax’.

Shamim Ashraf has been vocal against traffic jams, water logging and other problems in the city corporation area.

On 20th February 2024, Ashraf was granted bail by the Mymensingh senior judicial magistrate. After he secured bail, the Mymensingh city corporation filed a case against him under various sections of the Cyber Security Act.

As previously documented, in September 2023, the Cyber Security Act (CSA) replaced the Digital Security Act that was systematically used to arrest and detain online critics since it was enacted. The new law retains many of the repressive clauses in the Act.

Expression

Restrictions on the media around elections

On 6th January 2024, the day before the election, the Daily Manab Zamin newspaper’s website was blocked in Bangladesh following its critical reporting on the government. The outlet did not receive a government notice detailing why the website was blocked, and access was restored on 8th January.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mujib Mashal, South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, the newspaper was denied prior approval by the Bangladesh government to report on the polls.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on 8th January 2024 that the Bangladeshi authorities refused to issue visas to journalists from the headquarters of many leading international media outlets, including BBC News, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Al Jazeera. Some foreign reporters were also asked to sign a statement accepting that their photos and video footage would have to be approved by the Bangladeshi authorities before being sent, and could not harm the “national image.”

Journalists attacked and harassed during election coverage

In January 2024, CPJ reported that journalists were assaulted or harassed while covering alleged election irregularities and violence as Bangladeshis headed to the polls. The following are some of the cases.

On election day, 7th January 2024, around 15 to 20 men wearing Awami League badges attacked seven journalists during their coverage of an assault on independent candidate Ataur Rahman outside a polling station in northern Lalmonirhat district. Those attacked include M A Rahim, a correspondent for the broadcaster Ananda TV; Rimon Hossain, a camera operator with Ananda TV; Masud Rana, a correspondent with the online news portal enews71; Sumon Khan, a correspondent with the broadcaster Mohona TV; Elias Bosunia, a correspondent with the broadcaster Bangla TV; Minaj Islam, a correspondent with the newspaper Daily Vorer Chetona; and Hazrat Ali, a correspondent with the newspaper Dainik Dabanol.

The men beat several of the journalists with iron rods and bamboo sticks, beat and pushed others, and broke and confiscated multiple pieces of equipment including cameras and microphones.

Separately, around 25 men surrounded Sirajul Islam Rubel, a correspondent for The Daily Star newspaper, and Arafat Rahaman, a reporter for The Daily Star, as they tried to leave a polling station in the capital Dhaka after covering an alleged ballot stuffing attempt by Awami League supporters. The men grabbed the journalists’ phones, deleted their video footage and photos of the incident, and blocked their exit from the centre along with Daily Star reporter Dipan Nandy.

In another incident, around 20 to 25 men beat Mosharrof Shah, a correspondent for the daily newspaper Prothom Alo, after he photographed and filmed alleged ballot stuffing by Awami League supporters at a polling station in southeast Chittagong city. The men repeatedly slapped and punched Shah before he managed to flee the scene.

Around 20 to 30 men surrounded and assaulted Saif Bin Ayub, a sub-editor for the Daily Kalbela newspaper, and took his laptop, phone and other personal items while he was photographing alleged ballot stuffing by Awami League supporters inside a polling centre in Dhaka.

Separately, Awami League supporters surrounded and obstructed the work of four journalists with the New Age newspaper - correspondent Muktadir Rashid, photojournalist Sourav Laskar, and reporters Nasir Uz Zaman and Tanzil Rahaman - during their coverage of polling stations in Dhaka.

When Mohiuddin Modhu, a reporter for privately-owned Jamuna Television, tried to investigate attempted voter fraud in the Dhaka district of Nawabganj, Awami League supporters chased him away and threw bricks at him as he fled, injuring him.

Journalist detained and criminalised after filing information request

Journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana was held in jail for a week after police arrested him on 5th March 2024.

According to CPJ, Rana, who works for the Bangla-language newspaper Desh Rupantor, was arrested at a local government office in the northern Sherpur district after he filed a right to information (RTI) application regarding a government-run development programme.

Later that day, an assistant land commissioner, who is also an executive magistrate, sentenced the journalist to six months in prison on charges of disobeying an order by a public servant and insulting the modesty of a woman. The action was taken through a mobile court, which is empowered to try offences instantly.

Mohammad Ali Arafat, state minister for information and broadcasting, told CPJ an investigation found the chief of the government office where Rana filed the RTI application “to be at fault” and that Rana may be acquitted during his appeal, but the decision would depend on the judicial process.

Peaceful Assembly

Factory workers protest on highway over new pay scale

Factory workers blocked a highway on 22nd January 2024, in Gazipur’s Kaliakair Upazila district, demanding implementation of the new pay scale announced by the government.

According to a worker interviewed, the government had raised the minimum salary to Tk 12,500 (USD 114), but factory authorities had failed to implement the new pay scale and the minimum salary for factory workers is still Tk 6,700 (USD 61).

The workers at several garment factories launched the protest on the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Upazila’s Mouchak area and blocked the route for nearly two hours. Some workers also set fire to tires.

In response, police chased and baton-charged the protesters as well as used tear gas to disperse them. Several workers were injured in the incident and around 25 workers were taken to hospital afterwards.

Police prevent and disrupt opposition black-flag protest

On 30th January 2024, police disrupted the black-flag marches of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in different parts of the country. The BNP had called for protests across the country against the formation of the new parliament which they deemed ‘illegal’ and to demand fresh elections.

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a press conference that police arrested 50 leaders and activists of the party while over 100 were injured in attacks by police in different places as they attempted to hold the black-flag processions. In Dhaka, the police prevented the BNP from carrying out their march at any point, citing a lack of permission.

According to reports, the party’s scheduled marches were also blocked in Tangail, Jhenaidah, Patuakhali, Barishal, Pirojpur, Manikganj, Jhalakathi, and Narayanganj.

Dozens injured as police attack march by opposition alliance

On 28th February 2024, dozens of opposition leaders and activists were injured as police attacked and disrupted a march of the Ganatantra Mancha at Gulistan Zero Point near the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka.

Ganatantra Mancha, a name which translates to ‘democracy platform’ is an alliance of seven political parties – Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rab), Nagorik Oikya, Biplobi Workers Party, Bhasani Onusari Parishad, Rastra Sangskar Andolon, and Ganosanghati Andolon.

The Ganatantra Mancha began the march after holding a protest rally in front of the National Press Club to protest against the price hike of essential commodities and mass corruption in the banking and power sectors. As the marchers came near Zero Point, police stopped the marchers by setting up a temporary fence barricade. They then attacked the protesters with batons, including Zonayed Saki who was beaten. Saki was immediately rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital together with organising secretary of Rastra Sanskar Andolan Imran Emon and Nagarik Oikya central leader Saqeeb Anower.

Police disrupt Women’s Day march

Police on 8th March 2024 disrupted a peaceful march organised by Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal, the women’s wing of the main opposition BNP, marking International Women’s Day.

Police intervened when leaders and activists of the Mahila Dal, led by its president Afroza Abbas, started the march, after a number of speeches in front of the BNP’s Naya Paltan central office around 11:30 am. Police said they had to restrict the march as it would have caused traffic problems.

A huge number of police were deployed in Naya Paltan and its surrounding areas attended by several hundred leaders and activists from different BNP units.