Amnesty urges Bangladesh to stop rising attacks on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
February 07, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2023
Amnesty urges Bangladesh to stop rising attacks on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly

Bangladesh

TBS Report
11 August, 2020, 06:45 pm
Last modified: 11 August, 2020, 06:59 pm

Related News

  • Decoding Monetary Policy Statement 2023: Was there any better alternative?
  • Manpower export to Malaysia to be made easier, faster: Minister
  • Preparing for the future of AI in the job market: How Bangladesh can thrive in a tech-driven world
  • Pakistan should formally apologise for 1971 atrocities: Momen tells Hina Rabbani
  • Sri Lanka thanks Bangladesh for timely assistance on road to recovery

Amnesty urges Bangladesh to stop rising attacks on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly

The statement came in light of recent attacks that include the enforced disappearance of a student activist

TBS Report
11 August, 2020, 06:45 pm
Last modified: 11 August, 2020, 06:59 pm
Representational image
Representational image

Bangladeshi authorities must immediately stop all attacks on those peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly – plus urgently investigate a series of recent attacks – Amnesty International said in a statement on Monday.

"There is a disturbing pattern of enforced disappearances that has emerged in Bangladesh in recent years, mainly targeting people who express their dissenting political opinions. Ashraf Uddin Mahdi was forcibly disappeared from the centre of the capital as a brazen tactic to silence him," said Sultan Mohammed Zakaria, South Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.

The statement came in light of recent attacks that include the enforced disappearance of a student activist.

Ashraf Uddin Mahdi, a 27-year-old student at Egypt's Al Azhar University and a student activist, was forcibly disappeared on August 6 at around 11pm. He was taken by unknown men from the capital's Lalbagh area while returning home after visiting his relatives.

He was held incommunicado in an unknown location for 48 hours before being released amid intensified pressure from civil society organisations. Mahdi is a critic of the government with a large online following.

He told Amnesty International that the abductors released him on the condition that he would stop writing critical posts on social media about a few individuals affiliated with the regime.

Enforced disappearances have increasingly been on the rise in Bangladesh since the current regime assumed power in 2009. According to the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), between 2009 and 2018, at least 507 people were subjected to enforced disappearances.

Of them, 62 people were found dead, 286 returned alive, and the fate and whereabouts of 159 is still unknown.

Student activists have also faced violence from groups closely associated with the ruling party to silence criticism of the authorities.

On August 8, members of Chattra League, the student wing of the ruling party Awami League, beat Saleh Uddin Sifat, a law student of Dhaka University, in the Sitakunda are of Chattogram after accusing him of "anti-government activities" on social media.

The attackers left Sifat in critical condition. He had to be transferred to a hospital where he is currently undergoing medical treatment.

On the same day, in the southern district of Barguna, local police violently dispersed a peaceful rally and human chain organised to demand the release of Shahadul Islam, a graduate student of Stamford University.

Police baton-charged and injured at least 10 individuals who were protesting peacefully. Videos seen by Amnesty International suggest that the police suppressed the human chain violently without any provocation from the protesters.

"People's rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly must be urgently upheld in Bangladesh. The authorities must allow people to express their critical views without fear of reprisals, and must immediately stop their campaign of forcibly disappearing those perceived to be critical of the government. All those incidents must be promptly and effectively investigated in an impartial and independent manner, and all those found responsible must be brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty," he said.

Background

The Bangladeshi authorities have intensified the crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in recent years.

In 2019 alone, at least 1,325 people were arrested in 732 cases filed under the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA) – more than three detentions per day.

In 2020, the numbers of detained people under DSA crossed the 500 mark in the first half of the year.

In recent weeks, authorities have arrested dozens of students, teachers, cartoonists, and human rights defenders for their critical social media posts, writings and even caricatures.

Top News

Amnesty / Bangladesh / Freedom of expression

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A man stands in front of collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 6, 2023. Ihlas News Agency (IHA) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. TURKEY OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN TURKEY.
    Deaths exceed 2,600 as catastrophic quakes ravage Turkey, Syria
  • 30% cos see double-digit growth even in hard times
    30% cos see double-digit growth even in hard times
  • Govt borrowing from commercial banks surges
    Govt borrowing from commercial banks surges

MOST VIEWED

  • Bangladesh's GDP growth to stay below pre-pandemic level even in FY27: IMF
    Bangladesh's GDP growth to stay below pre-pandemic level even in FY27: IMF
  • Photo: TBS
    Basecamp launched at Foy’s Lake in Ctg
  • Second terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka/Photo- Zia Chowdhury/TBS
    Dhaka airport flights to remain suspended for 5 hours every night for 2 months
  • Photo: Screenshot
    ChatGPT explains why a country seeks IMF loan
  • Dhaka isn't safe after midnight: DMP 
    Dhaka isn't safe after midnight: DMP 
  • Hero Alom. Photo: Collected
    Hero Alom defeated in Bogura-4 by-poll by 834 votes

Related News

  • Decoding Monetary Policy Statement 2023: Was there any better alternative?
  • Manpower export to Malaysia to be made easier, faster: Minister
  • Preparing for the future of AI in the job market: How Bangladesh can thrive in a tech-driven world
  • Pakistan should formally apologise for 1971 atrocities: Momen tells Hina Rabbani
  • Sri Lanka thanks Bangladesh for timely assistance on road to recovery

Features

Photo: Collected

Get your partner a lovely present this Valentine's Day

19h | Brands
Pottery Wheel Craft Kit: A creative outlet for little hands

Pottery Wheel Craft Kit: A creative outlet for little hands

18h | Brands
Say it with Colours

Say it with Colours

1d | Mode
Photo: Courtesy

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Who will survive? Adani or Hindenburg?

Who will survive? Adani or Hindenburg?

9h | TBS Stories
James Gunn’s 8-10-year plan for the DC Universe

James Gunn’s 8-10-year plan for the DC Universe

9h | TBS Entertainment
LC issues lead to severe shortage of surgical equipment

LC issues lead to severe shortage of surgical equipment

12h | TBS Insight
Stage plays are going on in the digital age

Stage plays are going on in the digital age

17h | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

2
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

3
Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL
Banking

Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL

4
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

5
Photo: Collected
Startups

ShopUp secures $30m debt financing to boost expansion, supply chain

6
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]