Human Rights in Bangladesh - Intimidation of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, and The Opposition

Intimidation of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, and The Opposition

Voices of opposition are ever more at risk in Bangladesh, as groups who document or speak out against the actions of the government have found themselves increasingly threatened and under attack. On January 27, 2005, Shah Abu Mohamed Shamsul Kibria, former Finance Minister and senior member of the secular Bangladesh Awami League, was assassinated. This followed a 2004 attempt to assassinate the leader of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, in a bomb and grenade blast. She survived, but twenty-three members of her party were killed. Other AL members, junior and senior alike, have reported harassment and intimidation.

Human rights organisations also operate under the threat of assault from the authorities and government supporters. On August 8, 2005, a group of BNP members attacked two human rights activists, who had been investigating torture against an Ahmadi. Journalists face the same fate: for three years, the organisation Reporters sans Frontières, has named Bangladesh the country with the largest number of journalists physically attacked or threatened with death. The government has no intention of protecting journalists, whereas Islamist groups continue to intensify their intimidation of the independent news media.

Bangladeshi journalist, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, the editor of the Bangladeshi tabloid The Weekly Blitz, was imprisoned after writing articles warning about the rise of Islamic radicals, and urging Bangladesh to recognize Israel. Choudhury is facing charges of sedition, treason, blasphemy and espionage since January 2004 for having tried to attend a conference of the Hebrew Writers' Association in Tel Aviv. He violated the Passport Act, by attempting to travel to Israel in November 2003. The Act forbids citizens from visiting countries with which Bangladesh does not maintain diplomatic relations. He was beaten and interrogated for 10 days in an attempt to extract a confession that he was spying for Israel. He spent the next 17 months in solitary confinement, and was denied medical treatment for his glaucoma. On intervention of U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk, who spoke to Bangladesh's ambassador to the U.S., Choudhury's was released on bail, though the charges were not dropped. In 2007, HOUSE RESOLUTION 64 passed the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs calling on the government of Bangladesh to drop all charges against Choudhury.