Bangladesh

Bangladesh Human Rights

Human Rights Concerns

Bangladesh was created because of human rights violations. After the victory of the Awami League in Pakistan’s first elections in 1970, the Pakistani Army brutally suppressed the aspirations of the Bengali people in East Pakistan leaving upwards of 3 million people dead, millions of women raped, tens of millions of people forced into squalid refugee camps in India where cholera raged. But, in the end, after a swift Indian invasion, Bangladesh was free from the brutality of Pakistani rule but faced an almost impossible task to rebuild a country that was already desperately poor in a land prone to flooding and cyclones.

Yet, Bangladesh has achieved much in its 40 years of independence. For that, we can only be grateful. But, unfortunately, Bangladesh continues to be wracked by human rights violations.

The country's "Rapid Action Battalion" was formed to stem crime in the country has been implicated in hundreds of cases of torture and extrajudicial executions. This points to a broken policing system in the country, where the police act as vigilantes instead of police.

Women bear the brunt of many human rights violations at the community level, where social norms prevent women from being able to access their full basic rights under international law.

Tribal people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts face a government that has only partially implemented the 1997 peace accords ending the brutal conflict between Bangladesh and the people in the region.

Finally, Bangladesh faces a catastrophe as rising sea levels due to climate change threatens the livelihood of millions.

It's a country with a lot of promise, lots of it fulfilled, some still to fulfill.