Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights body, said the Bangladesh authorities should immediately end arbitrary arrests of the opposition party members.
“The ruling party keeps saying it welcomes dialogue with the oppositions, but in the light of ongoing crackdowns, it’s impossible to take that statement seriously,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at the Human Rights Watch.
“To resolve the current political deadlock, all parties have to make commitments to end political violence, while the international community needs to ramp up pressure for a political settlement that involves a credible election.”
Arrests have continued even after the ruling Awami League and its allies won the largely uncontested elections held on January 5, 2014, it said in a report released on January 8.
“Dozens, and perhaps, hundreds of opposition leaders and members were taken into custody before the election, which was boycotted by the main opposition alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP),” the report said.
“BNP leader and two-time former prime minister Khaleda Zia was placed under de facto house arrest, with security force surrounding her residence and blocking people from entering and leaving. Many opposition leaders and activists have gone into hiding,” the report added.
“While in some cases the government has acted appropriately to stop violence by some opposition forces, this spate of arrests is part of a pattern of weakening critics, limiting dissent, and consolidating the ruling party power,” said Brad Adams.
According to the report, as many as 150 people have been killed in political violence in recent months, much of it carried out by the opposition activists. The Election Commission said nearly 500 voting centres had to be closed because of the violence, including arson attack.
Awami League activists have also engaged in attacks on the opposition supporters.
Attacks on members of the Hindu community, allegedly by supporters of the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami, have been reported in the media.
Many Hindus, Bangladesh’s largest religious minority, traditionally vote for Awami League, the report added.
It mentioned that many senior opposition leaders from the BNP and thousands of its activists were arrested in the run-up to the election.
Ahead of a December 29 BNP “March for Democracy,” hundreds were arrested, the report said.
Leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami party report being threatened with arrest.
Many of its members were arrested while others went into hiding, it added.
