Johannesburg, 15 June 2012. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation denounces the government of Bangladesh’s systematic clampdown on peaceful political dissent and calls for a full investigation into the politically motivated disappearances of civil society activists.
Since the beginning of 2012, a number of civil society members, journalists and political activists have been attacked by representatives of law enforcement agencies. Civil society protests and public meetings have been disrupted by the police. Meanwhile new legislation is being proposed to control the activities of independent civil society groups, marking a dangerous decline in democratic freedoms in Bangladesh.On 4 April 2012, Aminul Islam, a prominent trade union organiser with the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation and the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, was allegedly tortured and murdered after being abducted by members of law enforcement agencies. Days later, on 17 April 2012, Ilias Ali, Secretary of the Sylhet Division of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), also disappeared. Both individuals were reported to have been subjected to government intimidation prior to their disappearance.
CIVICUS has credible reports of the stifling of media freedom and a spurt in intimidation of human rights defenders, with rogue members of law enforcement agencies operating with impunity. Several members and staff of Odhikar - a Dhaka based CSO engaged in human rights monitoring - have experienced an intensification of harassment and unwarranted surveillance. In October last year, the Secretary of Odhikar, Adilur Rahman Khan, was summoned by the Special Branch of the police, who refused to give reasons for their action. Members of Odhikar have been threatened by the police and their phones are believed to be regularly tapped by intelligence agencies.
In addition, Bangladesh’s government is currently championing a new law to persecute and punish civil society actors. The draft Foreign Donations Regulation Act of 2011, while preserving the existing constraints on foreign funding from the previous legal framework, drastically enhances the discretionary powers of the NGO Affairs Bureau. The proposed law would not only require NGOs to obtain permission to utilise foreign funds, but would also mean that NGOs have to secure prior authorisation to carry out individual activities partly or wholly funded by foreign sources.
“It is critical that Bangladesh upholds its constitutional and international obligations by protecting human rights defenders,” says Mandeep Tiwana, Policy and Advocacy Manager at CIVICUS. “The government has a responsibility to create an enabling environment for civil society where the freedoms of expression, association and assembly are duly respected. At present its actions appear to be seeking to achieve the opposite.”
CIVICUS calls on the Bangladeshi government to stop immediately this campaign of intimidation and to conduct fair and independent investigations into the politically motivated disappearances of civil society and political activists. Further, the government of Bangladesh should reverse moves to pass legislation that restricts legitimate civil society activities.