State Dept Report: Extrajudicial killing a major rights problem

The most significant human rights problems in Bangladesh were extrajudicial killings, arbitrary or unlawful detentions, and forced disappearances by government security forces, according to a US State Department human rights report for 2016.

“Authorities infringed on citizens' privacy rights. Some nongovernmental organisations faced continued legal and informal restrictions on their activities,” says the report uploaded on the department's website on Friday. 

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“There were reports of widespread impunity for security force abuses.

“The government took limited measures to investigate and prosecute cases of abuse and killing by security forces, including through the Internal Enquiry Cell of the Rapid Action Battalion [RAB].”

The 41st annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016 also says, “Public distrust of police and security services deterred many from approaching government forces for assistance or to report criminal incidents”.

In several instances, the government blamed victims of extremist attacks, increasing the impunity of attackers.

The report also claimed that extremist organisations claiming affiliation with IS and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) increased their activities in the country, executing high-profile attacks on religious minorities.

The Bangladesh government has repeatedly ruled out such claims, blaming the attacks on the homegrown militants.

Even yesterday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan reiterated that there is no existence of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh.

"There are some homegrown terrorist groups [in the country]. But our security forces have been able to tackle them properly," he said addressing as chief guest a meeting of civil society members in Bhola's Charfashan area.

After the high-profile attacks in Bangladesh, the US State Department report says, the government responded with a strong anti-militancy drive, which human rights groups claim has resulted in increased extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions for the purpose of extortion, enforced disappearances, torture, and other abuses of human rights.

It also says, "Corruption remained a serious problem within the judiciary and was a factor in lengthy delays of trials, which facilitated witness tampering and intimidation of victims. Several reports by human rights groups and corruption watchdog groups indicated continued public dissatisfaction with the perceived politicisation of the judiciary”.

On the press freedom, the report says, “Authorities, including intelligence services on some occasions, subjected journalists to physical attack, harassment, and intimidation”.

In February last year, 79 sedition and defamation cases were initiated against Mahfuz Anam, editor of The Daily Star.

There were isolated incidents of “government” restriction and disruption of access to the internet and censorship of online content, the report adds.

Basic freedoms of expression and association are on the decline around the world.

Corruption, use of torture and discrimination against minorities, have gotten worse in some parts of the world, reported the AP, quoting the report.

It also cited the report to have expressed concerns about sexual abuse of women, growing crackdowns on the media and internet freedom, suppression of political opposition groups and the inability of people to choose their own governments.

Mandated by the US Congress, the country reports provide policymakers with a holistic and accurate account of human rights conditions in nearly 200 countries worldwide including all member states of the United Nations.