The United Nations human rights experts have called upon Bangladesh to immediately cease reprisals against human rights defenders and relatives of the forcibly disappeared persons for their activism and co-operation with international human rights bodies and UN mechanisms.
They made the call in a statement published on the website of the United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, on Tuesday.
“Following the announcement of sanctions imposed by the United States of America against top Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officials on December 10, 2021, Bangladeshi authorities have reportedly launched a campaign of threats, intimidation and harassment against relatives of forcibly disappeared persons, human rights defenders, and civil society actors,” the statement said.
Between December 2021 and February 2022, the homes of at least 10 relatives of forcibly disappeared individuals were raided late at night, it said.
Experts observed that, during these raids, the relatives were “intimidated, threatened and forced to either sign blank sheets of paper or pre-written statements indicating that their family member was not forcibly disappeared and that they had deliberately misled the police.
“This is unacceptable,” said the statement.
They expressed concern at the increasingly challenging situation relatives, human rights defenders and civil society are facing in Bangladesh.
“Repeated accusations by senior government officials against some civil society organizations of providing false information to the UN mechanisms risk undermining the civil society’s key role,” read the statement.
They added that it was the Bangladesh government’s responsibility to ensure that the relatives and human rights defenders are able to carry out their work in a safe and enabling environment without fear of threats, intimidation or reprisals of any kind.
Experts noted with concern that the reported reprisals may have a “chilling effect and deter others from reporting on issues of public interest, including human rights, and from cooperating with the UN, its representatives and mechanisms.”
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances claimed that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has been involved in the majority of the enforced disappearances since 2009.
“Bangladeshi authorities are obliged under international law to promptly launch ex officio, independent, impartial and thorough investigations into these serious allegations, complemented by a thorough and comprehensive search for disappeared persons,” the statement said quoting experts.
“At the same time, the RAB and other security agencies should not be shielded from scrutiny and criminal responsibility,” it added.
They reiterated their request to the government to take effective steps to protect and uphold the rights of victims and their families to truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence.
The statement said that the experts are in contact with the Bangladeshi authorities on the matter.
