Human rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra yesterday said the overall human rights situation in the country deteriorated last year.
It said the culture of impunity became stronger in the recent time and there was a growing tendency among people to take the law into their own hands, which led to an increase in incidents such as mob beating deaths.
The rights organisation presented its annual report on last year’s human rights situation at a press conference at the auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity.
It said 2015 saw as many as 865 political clashes that caused 151 deaths and left 5,802 others injured.
According to Ain O Salish Kendra, some 123 people were killed in mob beatings in 2014 and the number rose to 135 last year.
Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra who was addressing the conference, said police did not act during mob beatings and people thus took the law into their own hands.
She said impatience among the masses was gradually growing and it was a matter of concern when it came to working for bettering the human rights situation in the country.
The annual report said 191 people were killed in shootouts with law enforcement agencies and in custody last year while 183 died in crossfire.
A total of 55 people were detained by individuals identifying themselves as law enforcement agency members in 2015. Of them, eight were found dead, five returned home and seven were shown arrested later.
Sultana said the authorities concerned appeared reluctant to acknowledge abductions and extra-judicial killings throughout last year.
“A culture of denial exists in the government. They [the government] have to get out of this and take necessary measures for improving the existing situation,” she said. “Ain O Salish Kendra calls on the government to acknowledge the incidents and take immediate measures for preventing recurrence of these.”
In 2015, 68 people – 42 undertrials and 26 convicts - died in prison, the Ain O Salish Kendra report said.
It said 32 Bangladeshi nationals were killed and 73 injured by India’s Border Security Force last year. Besides, 59 Bangladeshi citizens were detained by the force and 31 were handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh.
Rise in violence against women
Ain O Salish Kendra found that cases of violence against women increased in 2015 than the year before. A total of 224 women and girls were sexually harassed, and 10 of them committed suicide, last year.
Eight hundred and forty-six women and girls were raped, 60 were killed after rape and two committed suicide after rape.
Thirty-five women became victims of acid attack, and three of them died.
A total of 205 women were harassed by stalkers while five women and a man were killed for protesting such harassment. Four girls had to discontinue their education after being harassed.
Child oppression cases also saw a rise last year. According to Ain O Salish Kendra and Shishu Odhikar Unit, 133 children were killed in 2015 while the number was 90 in 2014.
Ain O Salish Kendra, however, hailed the government for approving the Domestic Worker Protection And Welfare Policy 2010.
Attacks on minorities
There were many incidents of attack on minorities in 2015. Some 104 houses of minority communities, and 213 temples and idols were vandalised while six businesses were set alight.
Some 60 people belonging to different minority communities were injured in attacks but law enforcement agencies did not take any effective measure, said Sultana.
Besides, two journalists were killed by assailants while 244 were harassed or received threats throughout 2015.
