The human rights situation in Bangladesh stabilised following the July-August uprising last year, although concerns remained, according to the Bangladesh 2024 Human Rights Report released by the US State Department yesterday.

"After weeks of mass student protests and hundreds of persons killed in clashes with police and Awami League party youth wings, on August 5 former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. On August 8, the president swore in an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in the role of 'Chief Advisor' (prime minister-equivalent)," the report said.

It noted that "after some incidents in August, the human rights situation in the country stabilised, although some concerns persisted."

According to the report, significant human rights violations – primarily under the previous government – included credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and transnational repression.

"After weeks of mass student protests and hundreds of persons killed in clashes with police and Awami League party youth wings, on August 5 former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. On August 8, the president swore in an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in the role of 'Chief Advisor' (prime minister-equivalent)," the report said.

It noted that "after some incidents in August, the human rights situation in the country stabilised, although some concerns persisted."

According to the report, significant human rights violations – primarily under the previous government – included credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and transnational repression.

It also cited serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence and threats against journalists, unjustified arrests, prosecutions, and censorship, as well as curbs on workers' freedom of association, violence against labour activists, and the persistence of the worst forms of child labour.

The state department said there were "numerous reports of widespread impunity" for abuses under the Awami League administration, which "rarely took credible steps to identify and punish officials or security force members responsible."

"After the fall of the previous government, the interim government arrested members of the previous administration accused of committing human rights abuses," it added.

Credible reports from human rights organisations and media documented serious abuses by the Awami League's student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, during the July–August unrest.

"The interim government worked with the United Nations and used both its ordinary justice system and the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal to hold the perpetrators accountable," the report added.

Sunnews/SA