“With election sentiments at the bursting point, Bangladeshi security forces need to overcome their long history of using unlawful force against opposition protesters and respond in a way that is professional and non-partisan.” said Brad Adams, Asia director at the Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“The ruling Awami League should remember the mistreatment suffered by its supporters when they were in the opposition and ensure that law enforcement agencies act within the law”, added Adams.
He said political party and protest leaders should act to prevent violence by their supporters, including against the security forces. The security forces should respond to protests in accordance with international law enforcement standards, only us...
Bangladesh will be catapulted to third in the league table of death penalty countries, behind Iran and China if the executions of 152 border guards to death over ‘2009 mutiny’ are carried out, a process that was slammed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, amongst others.
In young and developing democracies like Bangladesh, the imprisonment of dissenting voices is commonplace, but not unsurprising. Yet it is the incendiary act of executing high-level opposition leaders before an election which risks plunging Bangladesh into turmoil. Criticism of legal processes aside, it is this challenge to the very fundamentals of a modern democracy that must concern all.
The Indian UPA government led by Congress is learned to have got the BJP’s support for tabling the bill related to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh in the winter session of parliament beginning on Thursday, signalling its intent to Dhaka to go ahead with the landmark pact.
However, the bill is unlikely to be taken up for ratification, with the BJP making it clear that the government will have to explain its political limitations to Bangladesh, reports The Indian Express on Monday.
Quoting reliable sources the daily said the bill will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha so that it remains alive in the new parliament after the general election.
The BJP, it is learned, has come around to the view that this is how far it can go in an election year, although it is not ...
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the Bangladesh political leaders on both sides to stop political violence and their ‘destructive brinkmanship’.
“Whatever their differences, political leaders on both sides must halt their destructive brinkmanship, which is pushing Bangladesh dangerously close to a major crisis,” Pillay said in a statement issued from Geneva on Sunday.
Instead, she said, they (political leaders) must fulfill their responsibility and use their influence to bring this violence to an immediate halt and seek a solution to this crisis through dialogue.
The statement came at a time when the...
The Dhaka- Chittagong highway has turned into a mostly violated and risky route due to hartals and continuing demonstration which covers the country’s 80 per cent export and import.
The business leaders of different organisations once again urged to the political leaders to keep free from all kind violence on Dhaka-Chittagong highway to sake supply chain undisturbed of the country.
Bangladesh earned $28 billion from exporting the apparels sector, wher...
Responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition, the High Court (HC) on Sunday issued rule asking the government and the Election Commission to explain why they should not be directed to bring amendment to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) to reintroduce the provision for ‘no’ vote.
After a brief hearing on the PIL writ petition filed by two lawyers — Shahriar Majid and Rokanuddin M Faruq — an HC division bench comprising Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice M Khurshid Alam issued the rule, which is returnable in two weeks.
