Have extrajudicial killings continued under Bangladesh’s Yunus government?

When Sheikh Hasina was ousted arsenic Bangladesh’s premier curate successful August 2024 aft a student-led uprising, galore successful the state believed the darkest days of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings were yet over.

The interim administration, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, sworn successful connected August 8 past year, arrived connected promises of justice, betterment and an extremity to authorities violence. But much than a twelvemonth on, those promises are nether question.

A caller study by the Bangladeshi rights radical Odhikar shows that portion the fig of killings has fallen sharply, the strategy of impunity that allowed specified abuses to flourish remains mostly intact.

Here’s what the findings amusement and wherefore they substance arsenic Bangladesh prepares for parliamentary elections successful February to take its adjacent government.

The killings continue

From 2009 – erstwhile Hasina came backmost to powerfulness aft six years spent retired of bureau – to 2022, Bangladesh’s information forces are accused of having killed astatine slightest 2,597 radical done extrajudicial executions, custodial torture oregon by opening occurrence connected protesters, an investigation of quality rights information suggests.

Human rights excesses nether Hasina were a large trigger for the wide protests that culminated successful her ouster.

But according to Odhikar’s latest report, extrajudicial killings person claimed astatine slightest 40 lives from August 2024 to September 2025 nether the Yunus-led interim government.

The victims were shot, tortured successful custody oregon beaten to decease – methods chillingly reminiscent of the erstwhile government. The victims included governmental activists, detainees held without warrants, alleged criminals and citizens caught successful information operations, according to the report, based connected accusation from quality rights defenders affiliated with Odhikar arsenic good arsenic accusation and information published crossed assorted media outlets.

While the standard of these incidents is smaller than during Hasina’s rule, the continuation of specified practices has alarmed quality rights defenders.

“We are seeing a gradual summation successful the fig of extrajudicial killings, which is not what we expected,” Nur Khan Liton, rights activistic and subordinate of the Commission of Inquiry connected Enforced Disappearances, told Al Jazeera. The committee is simply a government-appointed investigative assemblage formed connected August 27, 2024, by the Yunus administration. It is tasked with investigating wide disappearances nether the erstwhile government, identifying those responsible, and ensuring justness and reparations for victims and their families.

The interim government, made up of academics and erstwhile civilian servants, had been among the loudest critics of Hasina’s rule. Yunus himself spoke of gathering a “Bangladesh escaped from fear”.

Yet the aforesaid information agencies – police; the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a paramilitary force; and quality units – proceed to run without meaningful betterment oregon outer oversight, rights groups said.

In respective cases, detainees were picked up by information forces; taken to service camps, RAB camps oregon constabulary stations; and aboriginal declared dormant successful the hospital.

Asif Shikdar, a younker person of the absorption Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP’s) younker wing, was detained by associated information forces successful Mirpur, Dhaka, successful July, reportedly connected allegations of amerciable arms possession, which his household and enactment said were fabricated.

Hours aft his arrest, helium was taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital and declared dormant with the decease certificate stating lone “unconscious connected arrival”.

In Italla colony adjacent Cumilla metropolis successful the country’s south, 40-year-old Towhidul Islam, besides a BNP younker helping leader, was detained by “plainclothes members of a associated force” aboriginal connected January 31, according to The Daily Star newspaper. Hours later, helium was declared dormant astatine a section hospital, and doctors and household members reported disposable marks of torture connected his body.

Towhidul, who worked astatine a shipping institution successful Chattogram port, had returned to his colony to be his father’s funeral. He near down a woman and 4 daughters.

After nationalist outrage, the service campy commandant was withdrawn, and the service pledged justness portion the Yunus medication announced the enactment of an probe committee.

In effect to queries from Al Jazeera astir Towhidul’s death, Lieutenant Colonel Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury, manager of Inter Services Public Relations, the military’s communications arm, said: “In effect to the incident, an enquiry committee was convened by Bangladesh Army. Upon completion of the investigation, a full of 7 individuals were recommended for due administrative actions.”

“Disciplinary actions were taken against each individuals, ranging from dismissal from work to different due actions arsenic advised by the inquiry,” Chowdhury added.

What the information show

Odhikar’s report, which covers the archetypal 14 months of the interim government, documents an mean of 3 extrajudicial killings per month. The inclination appears to beryllium worsening with 11 radical killed successful the latest 4th alone, from July to September.

The study categorises 19 victims arsenic changeable dormant successful “crossfire” oregon “encounters”, 14 arsenic killed nether torture and 7 arsenic beaten to decease successful custody.

These deaths carnivore what quality rights activists said are hallmarks of impunity: arrests without warrants, denial of owed process and an lack of credible investigation.

In Bhola, an land territory successful confederate Bangladesh, Nazrul Islam died successful August 2024 aft helium was detained connected theft allegations and allegedly tortured successful constabulary custody. No serviceman has been charged successful transportation with his death.

In Gazipur connected the outskirts of Dhaka, garment idiosyncratic Habibur Rahman was reportedly changeable dormant erstwhile constabulary opened occurrence to disperse a labour protestation this year. His decease has not led to immoderate judicial enquiry oregon accountability.

Odhikar noted that contempt Bangladesh ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Torture and its Optional Protocol, it inactive lacks an effectual mechanics to clasp instrumentality enforcement accountable for excesses.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Odhikar’s manager of advocacy and campaigns, Taskin Fahmina, described the continuation of killings arsenic “worrying but not wholly surprising, considering the organization legacy”.

“Significantly, the fig has travel down compared to the erstwhile regime,” she said. “But we indispensable retrieve that those present serving successful the information forces transportation the bequest of the aged system.”

Fahmina noted that dissimilar nether Hasina, these incidents nary longer look to beryllium centrally ordered. “During the erstwhile government, killings and enforced disappearances were systematic, directed from precocious levels of power. Under this government, we haven’t documented enforced disappearances. That’s a affirmative shift,” she said.

But she besides cited an incidental from July erstwhile information forces clashed with supporters of Hasina’s Awami League successful Gopalganj, her location district. Five radical died of gunshot wounds. Such incidents, she said, “suggest that the usage of lethal unit [by information forces] inactive persists”.

Fahmina said the military’s prolonged engagement successful instrumentality enforcement has eroded professionalism. The service has remained deployed connected Bangladesh’s streets since July 2024 aft the wide protests that led to Hasina’s ouster. Its continued beingness was necessitated by the illness of civilian instrumentality enforcement during the upheaval, including a nationwide constabulary onslaught that near galore stations abandoned and caused disorder.

“The service is not trained for civilian instrumentality enforcement. Long deployment successful the streets has affected their discipline,” Fahmina said.

On November 5, the manager of the Military Operations Directorate, Brigadier General Dewan Mohammad Monzur Hossain, said the service had received a authorities directive to retreat 50 percent of its members from tract duty.

From anticipation to hesitation and fear

During Hasina’s 15-year rule, Bangladesh witnessed an entrenched civilization of impunity among information forces that, critics said, corroded antiauthoritarian institutions and normalised authorities violence. Thousands of radical were allegedly abducted oregon killed by information forces.

The autumn of her authorities was seen arsenic a symbolic extremity to that era. When Yunus assumed office, some Bangladeshis and the planetary assemblage saw his enactment arsenic a motivation departure from the practices of the past. His advisers pledged security-sector reforms, transparency and justness for past abuses.

But analysts said his motivation authorization has not translated into control.

The Commission of Inquiry connected Enforced Disappearances has truthful acold recorded a full of 1,752 cases of enforced disappearances during Hasina’s administration. According to the commission, galore of the victims were kept successful concealed detention facilities, and respective were killed portion 330 radical stay missing to this day. The RAB, constabulary and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) – the country’s subject quality agency, which has traditionally reported straight to the Prime Minister’s Office – person been accused of carrying retired galore of these killings and disappearances.

But the RAB, connected which the United States placed sanctions successful 2021 for extrajudicial killings, continues to operate.

In February, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a study connected the killings during the July 2024 uprising and recommended to the Yunus authorities that the RAB and the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), the telecom surveillance bureau agelong criticised for unlawful surveillance of Hasina’s opponents, beryllium dissolved. It besides suggested that the powers of different paramilitary agencies, including the DGFI, beryllium strictly constricted to subject quality activities.

However, those recommendations person not been implemented and uncertainty continues to situation the prosecution of officials accused of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings nether the erstwhile government.

In October, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal issued apprehension warrants for 30 people, including Hasina and 25 serving oregon retired service officers, accused of enforced disappearances and different crimes nether the erstwhile government.

On October 22, the tribunal rejected the bail applications of 15 officers who had already been taken into custody and ordered they beryllium held successful jail. The whereabouts of the remaining accused, including apical figures associated with the DGFI and Hasina’s defence advisor Tarique Ahmed Siddique, stay unclear. A proceedings is ongoing.

[BELOW: Who said this quote, and wherever does the punctuation end?]

Families of victims described the determination arsenic a long-overdue measurement towards justice. But rights activists said determination is inactive uncertainty implicit the aboriginal of the trial. “Since the 2024 uprising, neither the instrumentality enforcement agencies nor the nationalist person been capable to spot place successful 1 another.

Given the governmental and societal instability, nary 1 is definite astir which absorption the state is heading, Liton told Al Jazeera.

Police headquarters, responding to media queries, denied systematic abuse.

It said deaths successful custody oregon during operations are “subject to interior reappraisal and ineligible enactment if necessary”.

Al Jazeera sought a effect from Yunus’s media bureau but has received nary reply.

Senior BNP person Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said helium believes lone a authorities elected successful the nationalist ballot successful February whitethorn code abuses by information forces. In the lack of an elected authority, authorities institutions were operating without accountability, helium told Al Jazeera.

“There is nary elected watchdog oregon people’s typical successful place. Without governmental authorization and legitimacy, the administration, including the instrumentality enforcement agencies, often does not instrumentality directives seriously. They enactment connected their own,” helium said. “Once an elected government, parliament and nationalist representatives instrumentality office, accountability volition return. By default, an elected strategy creates checks and balances.”

But past suggests that the world is much complex.

“We person observed specified extrajudicial killings successful the sanction of crossfire by the RAB backmost successful 2004,” Liton said. In that year, the RAB was formed by a BNP-led conjugation authorities that was past successful power.

Fahmina said Bangladesh’s way guardant would lone go wide erstwhile it has an elected authorities adjacent year. “The existent trial volition travel erstwhile a governmental authorities returns – whether it chooses to proceed reforms oregon repetition the aforesaid mistakes,” she said.