The Covid-19 pandemic weakens human rights in Bangladesh and it still remains a concern, according to recent reports by several organizations.
Recently, the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) in World Report 2021 said Bangladesh’s Awami League-led government used the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to censor free speech and crack down on critics.
According to HRW, the authorities arrested journalists, artists, students, doctors, political opposition members, and activists who spoke out against the government’s response to the pandemic, or otherwise criticized the ruling party.
“The ruling Awami League showed in 2020 that it will stop at almost nothing to maintain its grip on authoritarian control, even in the face of a global pandemic,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRD.
HRW said that health workers reported insufficient personal protective equipment and alleged corruption in access to critical services. The government responded by silencing healthcare workers, censoring media, arresting those who spoke out, and increasing surveillance to crack down on Covid-19 “rumors.”
The human rights watchdog also said that arrests under the abusive Digital Security Act increased dramatically. Police even arrested a child for “defaming” the prime minister in a Facebook post.
The authorities released over 23,000 detained people to protect against the spread of Covid-19 in prisons, but did not include those held for criticizing the ruling party, HRW said.
On the other hand, rights watchdog Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) said a total of 42 Bangladeshis were killed and 22 others injured by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in between January to December of the last year.
ASK data shows that the number of deaths was 43 in 2019, 14 in 2018, 24 in 2017, 30 in 2016, 46 in 2015, 32 in 2014, and 26 in 2013.
At least 247 journalists fell victim to harassment in Bangladesh from January to December of the previous year according to a recent report of ASK.
The report also disclosed that 39 journalists were harassed by law enforcing agencies, of whom 26 received death threats over phones during the period. It also revealed that 25 journalists were attacked and harassed by the ruling parties’ members or its affiliates.
A total of 90 cases were filed against journalists for published news, the ASK report added. Besides, 34 journalists were tortured and harassed by terrorists, the rights body said in the report.
At least 142 journalists were harassed in 2019 while some 207 journalists faced harassment in 2018, the ASK’s data showed.
As many as 626 children were reportedly raped from January to December 2020, according to a recent survey by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). According to MJF, 145 children died as a result of rape, attempted rape, murder, abduction, disappearance and torture.
The survey of MJF also claimed that the number of child marriages also increased by 60 percent during Covid-19 pandemic.
At least 1,718 incidences of violence against children were reported and a total of 986 cases were filed in this regard last year in Bangladesh, ASK said in a recent report.
On the other hand, at least 1,627 women were victims of rape between January to December of 2020, rights body Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) said in a recent report.
The report also found that among the victims, 317 were gang-raped, 53 were killed after rape and 14 committed suicide after rape. Besides, 326 attempts to rape were made during the last year, the ASK data showed.
A total of 1,413 women were victims of rape in 2019. The number of reported rape victims was 732 in 2018, 818 in 2017 and 724 in 2016, the ASK data showed.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 18,221 cases related to women and children falling victims of violence were filed till December 15, according to a recent report of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA).
75 people died in jail custody in Bangladesh from January to December of the previous year, according to a recent report of ASK.
Of them, 45 were under trial prisoners and the rest were serving jail terms after conviction, ASK’s data revealed.
Jails in Dhaka division saw the highest 39 deaths in custody. Of them, 22 were in the jail while trial proceedings in the cases were going against the others in the court, the rights body said in the report.
According to ASK report, in last year, a total of 222 people lost their lives in extra judicial killings, where apart from shootouts and crossfire, the cause of deaths also included physical torture, custodial deaths and recovery of bullet-riddled bodies.
In last year, at least 67 temples, monasteries or idols came under attack across the country. Besides, 71 people injured due to this attack and 12 houses of minorities also attacked and put on fire, according to data compiled by ASK.
Recently, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), under its Human Rights and Justice Program (HRJP), launched Low-Value Grants (LVG) to foster small scale innovative actions to address human rights issues during and after Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh, engaging civil society organizations (CSOs) and community radio.
The call encourages an approach to leave no one behind (LNOB) to combat discrimination and inequalities in the time of Covid-19, particularly on the following thematic issues – rights and inclusion of left-behind people in the decision-making structures and institutional services; rights of the minorities; women and children rights; cultural rights; promotion of peace, tolerance and cultural diversity in the society; ethnic/local language-based rights education; and radio programming.
nh/wi
