By 
09-02-2025
Antonia Chettab
Bangladesh Campaign Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
In January 2025, Human Rights Watch published a 50-page report titled “After the Monsoon Revolution: A Roadmap to Lasting Security Sector Reform in Bangladesh”, which provides a detailed analysis of the human rights landscape in Bangladesh.
In August 2024, protests led to the resignation of Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister after 15 years of repression and violence against critics and opposition members, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture through the deployment of security forces. The interim government, led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, promised to address systemic human rights and democracy abuses. HRW recognises notable steps taken for truth and justice, including the signing of the International Convention on Enforced Disappearances and the establishment of the Commission for Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance.
The Commission for Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance published its first report in December, estimating over 3,500 enforced disappearances under the Sheikh Hasina government. HRW also found the involvement of Hasina and some senior officials in overseeing enforced disappearances and secret detention centres. Hasina is currently in exile, and the ex-military and police officers are on the run.
While Human Rights Watch highlights pledges by the interim government for accountability and a democratic future, it also notes recent incidents at risk of prolonging the cycle of violence, including arbitrary arrests and reprisal violence. The NGO refers to reemerging security force abuses, this time targeting former Awami League supporters and journalists, including arbitrarily detaining people and filing mass criminal cases against unnamed accused, allowing the police to intimidate opposition supporters.
HRW stresses the need for long-lasting democratic reforms centred on the separation of powers to end systemic abuses and prevent losing “hard-won progress”. It urges the interim government to allow independent inspections of detention centres, revise laws used to target critics, reform security forces to ensure accountability, and disband the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a counterterrorism unit responsible for numerous extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances. HRW also recommends that the interim government seek support from UN experts for lasting reforms and accountability for human rights violations under the previous government.
Sources and further readings:
HRW: Hasina, some top officials involved in overseeing enforced disappearance. (2025, February 4). Dhaka Tribune.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/372765/hrw-hasina-some-top-officials-involved-in.
Human Rights Watch urges Bangladesh to stop “cycle of violence”. (2025, February 7).
Bangladesh needs systemic reform to end rights abuse: HRW. (2025, January 28). Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/28/bangladesh-needs-systemic-reform-to-end-legal-abuse-hrw.
HRW: Reforms needed to restore democracy in Bangladesh. (2025, January 28). Dhaka Tribune. https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/372134/hrw-reforms-needed-to-restore-democracy-in.
HRW report: Govt must ensure past abuses are not repeated. (2025, January 18). The Daily Star. https://www.thedailystar.net/analysis/news/hrw-report-govt-must-ensure-past-abuses-are-not-repeated-3801796.
Bangladesh: Government Sets up Disappearances Inquiry. (2024, August 29). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/29/bangladesh-government-sets-disappearances-inquiry.
Sheikh Hasina Involved In Enforced Disappearances: Bangladesh Commission. (2024, December 15). NDTV.
Bangladesh: Signing of Convention on Enforced Disappearances is a much welcome first step. (2024, August 30). Amnesty International.
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