A year after Hasina’s fall, Bangladesh’s rights reforms falter

DHAKA, Bangladesh — One year after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a violent uprising, Bangladesh’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus is struggling to deliver on promised human rights reforms, Human Rights Watch said in a statement released Tuesday.

Tens of thousands took to the streets in 2024, toppling the Awami League’s 15-year authoritarian rule, which was marred by enforced disappearances, crackdowns on dissent, and extrajudicial killings. While some of those abuses have ceased, new reports indicate the interim government is detaining opposition members arbitrarily and failing to reform entrenched security and judicial systems.

“The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The interim government appears stuck—juggling unreformed security forces, emboldened religious hardliners, and a political class bent on revenge.”

Despite initial optimism and the formation of 11 reform commissions in 2024, the government has made little headway. UN agencies and rights groups have submitted proposals, but few have been adopted. Meanwhile, mob and political violence is rising, and attacks on journalists and minorities persist—especially targeting Hindus in Rangpur and communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, following a five-week protest movement that resulted in 1,400 deaths, according to the UN. Yunus’s interim government was installed three days later. But torture and custodial deaths remain frequent, highlighting the need for security reform.

A deadly July 16 clash in Gopalganj between police and Hasina’s banned Awami League supporters killed five. Police later arrested hundreds of alleged supporters and filed over 8,400 murder charges—most against unnamed individuals. From August to late September 2024, 92,486 people were charged, including nearly 400 former government officials.

Human Rights Watch also cited the case of former Dhaka mayor Mohammad Atiqul Islam, who remains detained despite 36 of 68 murder charges against him being tied to incidents when he was reportedly abroad.

The use of Bangladesh’s draconian Special Powers Act continues, as evidenced in “Operation Devil Hunt” in February, which led to over 8,600 arrests—many politically motivated, according to rights monitors.

Meanwhile, only 60 police officers have been arrested for their role in the 2024 bloodshed, despite involvement by multiple agencies including the infamous Rapid Action Battalion.

On August 27, 2024, the government formed a commission to probe enforced disappearances. Though the commission has received over 1,800 complaints and collected significant evidence, investigators say security forces have destroyed records and blocked access, while many alleged perpetrators have fled the country.

The Yunus administration also created 11 reform bodies to address police oversight, judicial independence, and gender rights—but no major proposals have been implemented. Critics point to a lack of consensus, especially regarding reforms to increase women’s political representation and align electoral systems with international standards like UN Security Council resolution 1325.

To avoid repeating the past, Human Rights Watch urged the interim government to end arbitrary detentions, reform the judiciary, prosecute abusive officials, and disband the Rapid Action Battalion. They also called on international governments to impose sanctions and prosecute human rights violators under universal jurisdiction.

“No one doubts that Yunus’s government faces serious challenges,” Ganguly said. “But political actors—especially those who were once victims of state repression—must commit to building a rights-respecting future for all Bangladeshis.”