On the occasion of the 2026 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (World Drug Day) and the Support Don’t Punish Global Day of Action on 26 June, 63 national, regional and international organisations call on the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and its Member States to unequivocally condemn the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences and to uphold international human rights obligations, including by adopting concrete measures to restrict the use of the death penalty with a view to its full abolition. We further urge UNODC to ensure that none of its technical assistance, capacity-building, or support to drug law enforcement in retentionist States risk contributing, directly or indirectly, to the investigation, prosecution, conviction or sentencing of individuals to death for drug-related offences. 

At a time when executions for drug-related offences are reaching unprecedented levels, continued silence and inaction from UNODC and CND, the UN bodies mandated to guide the development and implementation of international drug policy, are untenable. We urge UNODC and CND to take a clear stance against this inhuman practice that contributes to the perpetuation of human rights violations in the name of drug control and to a systemic lack of transparency and accountability.  

Our organisations oppose the death penalty unconditionally and continue to call on all states that retain the death penalty to fully abolish it as a matter of urgency. 

THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG-RELATED OFFENCES: RECORD-HIGH EXECUTIONS

 The death penalty is retained for drug-related offences in at least 35 countries, and it is mostly imposed in relation to the cultivation, manufacturing, trafficking or importing/exporting of controlled substances. 

Official information on the use of the death penalty is not publicly available for many countries; and only a limited number of state authorities globally respond to requests for information – often not providing disaggregated data by crime. In the absence of full transparency on the part of states, it is impossible to know the full extent of the resort to this cruel punishment, including for drug-related offences.  

However, independent research by civil society shows a sharp rise in drug-related executions in recent years, with such cases accounting for over 40% of all executions worldwide and reaching 46% in 2025. Reported separately by Amnesty International and Harm Reduction International, more than 1,200 people executed in 2025 are for drug-related offences, marking a significant increase compared to 2024 and the highest number recorded to date. This finding underscores the growing role of drug control as a driver of capital punishment globally and in many countries.

Amnesty International and Harm Reduction International recorded drug-related executions in five countries: China, where official sources confirmed drug-related executions, but for which neither organisation was able to present a total figure due to state censorship and lack of transparency; Iran, where almost half the executions recorded during the year were for drug-related offences; Kuwait, which also expanded applicability of the death penalty for drug offences in 2025; Saudi Arabia, where 240 executions for drug-related offences were recorded, doubling the corresponding total for 2024; and Singapore, where 15 out of 17 executions were drug related, also doubling the 2024 figure. Both organisations believe that it is likely that drug-related executions were carried out in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Viet Nam, but could not confirm it, again due to restrictive state practices. 

Civil society independent monitoring has also documented hundreds of new death sentences imposed for drug-related offences in at least 16 countries in 2025:  Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, and Yemen. In addition to these, Harm Reduction International recorded death sentences for drug-related offences in North Korea and Thailand.  

At least 2,450 people are estimated to be on death row for drug offences in 22 countries at the end of 2025; though actual figures are likely to be significantly higher.

Throughout the year, the authorities of Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives also drove legislative efforts to expand the scope of the death penalty for drug-related crimes. Positive steps to reduce the scope of the death penalty for these offences were taken in Viet Nam, where the death penalty was abolished for eight offences including drug transportation. In April 2026, the Ministry of Public Security proposed further amendments to the Penal Code to reduce the scope of the death penalty.

Recent developments in other countries suggest that, with sustained political will, a significant decrease in the global resort to the death penalty for drug-related offences is possible. In Malaysia, the repeal of the mandatory death penalty in July 2023, prompted a review of existing death sentences by the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, resulting in the commutation of more than 1,000 death sentences. Official figures show a further decline in the number of death sentences imposed by High Courts during 2025, with the overall total (15) decreasing by one third compared to 2024, when 24 new death sentences were imposed. The number of drug-related offences declined by two, from nine to seven. Once, again, Malaysia’s higher courts did not uphold any new death sentences for such offences during 2025. In July 2023, Pakistan repealed the death penalty for drug-related offences; the first country to do so in over a decade. 

These changes not only represent significant steps towards aligning national laws with restrictions on the use of the death penalty set out under international law and standards but also reflect a shift away from highly punitive approaches to drugs, of which the death penalty has been the most extreme example. 

 

A CLEAR VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND DRUG CONTROL LAW AND STANDARDS 

International human rights law and standards restrict the use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”, which do not include drug-related offences. Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Safeguard No.1 of the UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, adopted through UN Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50, provide that the imposition of the death penalty must be restricted to the “most serious crimes”. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that “The term ‘The most serious crimes’ must be read restrictively and appertain only to crimes of extreme gravity, involving intentional killing. Crimes not resulting directly and intentionally in death, such as […] drug and sexual offences, although serious in nature, can never serve as the basis, within the framework of article 6, for the imposition of the death penalty. […].” Among other UN mandates, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has similarly stated that “The death penalty may not be imposed for drug-related offences. In its 2023 report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights highlighted that “[d]rug-related offences can never serve as the basis for the imposition of the death penalty”.   

The UN Drug Conventions – the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) and the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988) – do not make any reference to capital punishment, while several UN human rights and drug control bodies have reiterated the total opposition to the death penalty, including for drug-related offences. The UN task team on the implementation of the Common Position on Drugs has reiterated in unequivocal terms that the application of the death penalty for drug-related offences does not respect the spirit of the international drug control conventions and has the potential to become an obstacle to effective cross-border and international cooperation against drug trafficking. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has also noted that “States’ actions that violate human rights in the name of drug control policy are inconsistent with the international drug control conventions”; and has called on States that still retain this punishment for drug-related offences to consider abolishing it for such offences and commuting death sentences that have already been imposed.  More broadly, the INCB has stressed that respect for human rights is a prerequisite for the implementation of the international drug control conventions, and that measures adopted with the purported aim of furthering drug policy that are inconsistent with universally recognized human rights norms are a violation of the international drug control conventions. 

However, the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences remains a contentious issue at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, preventing this body from taking a formal position on this important matter. While UNODC representatives have on occasions recalled the UN’s unconditional opposition to the death penalty, advocacy and advances towards abolition have not been included in programmatic documents of the Office. The continued and unequivocal public condemnation by UNODC of the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences would be critical, in the long term, to change the perception of this issue and foster a context for discussions that puts the protection of human rights at the core of international and national drug control policies. 

 

WORLD DRUG DAY AND THE DEATH PENALTY 

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is an initiative designed to encourage international cooperation to address the risks and harms of drugs. Yet, in many countries, it has instead become an occasion to showcase and legitimiZe punitive drug control measures, with governments using the day to amplify “iron-fist on drug crime” stances. The authorities of Iran, for example, reaffirmed on World Drug Day their strong resolve to act as “the flag bearer of the global fight against narco-traffickers and death dealers”. In China, courts, including the Supreme People’s Court, use this day as a regular hook to issue judicial guidelines on how to apply the death penalty for drug related offences.

These narratives risk being reinforced by UNODC’s long-standing role in funding and providing technical support to narcotic-control programmes in countries that retain the death penalty for drug-related offences without sufficient safeguards to ensure that these operations do not risk contributing to the imposition of death sentences.  

The World Drug Day – and the global mobilisation taking place as part of the Support. Don’t Punish campaign – offer a timely opportunity for UNODC to confront these harms and set the abolition of the death penalty as a key priority in its work. The launch of the annual World Drug Report on 26 June, provides a public platform for the Office to condemn the use of the death penalty as a tool of drug control, and to recommend specific measures that retentionist countries can adopt to bring domestic drug policies in line with international law and standards; and to signal UNODC’s commitment to prioritise abolition of the death penalty in all of its work. 

The co-signatories reiterate their call on all international drug control mechanisms, including the CND and UNODC, to consistently incorporate human rights standards into their work, including in connection with the World Drug Day. In particular, we reiterate our call on the CND to establish a standing item in its agenda to address the human rights impacts of drug policies; and on UNODC to:  

1. ensure that human rights are part of its constant monitoring work, including through the inclusion in the World Drug Report of a specific chapter on human rights, and of updated information on use of the death penalty for drug-related offences, 
2. incorporate an explicit commitment to promote abolition of the death penalty (both generally and for drug-related offences specifically) in its forthcoming strategy; and 
3.  ensure that its cooperation with retentionist countries does not risk contributing to the use of the death penalty, in line with UN policy.  

1. Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran
2. ACAT-Liberia
3. Africa Network of People who Use Drugs [AfricaNPUD]
4. AIVL – Australia, Pacific
5. Amnesty International
6. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) – Malaysia and Philippines / Asia Pacific
7. Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP), Australia
8. Center for Legal Support and Inmates’ Rehabilitation (CELSIR)
9. Center of Legal and Social Studies (CELS) – Argentina
10. Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders (CSHRD) 
11. Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico
12. Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide (CCDPW)
13. CrimeInfo, Japan
14. Dejusticia, Colombia
15. Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR)
16. Drug Policy Alliance, USA
17. Drug Policy Australia
18. Drug Science, United Kingdom
19. ELEMENTA – Colombia and Mexico
20. Together against the death penalty (ECPM)
21. European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
22. Fédération Addiction – France
23. Forum Droghe – Italy
24. Groupement romand d’études des addictions (GREA), Switzerland
25. Hands off Cain
26. Harm Reduction Australia
27. Harm Reduction International
28. HAYAT, Malaysia
29. Instituto RIA, AC, Mexico
30. IHRNGO (Iran Human Rights)
31. International Drug Policy Consortium – Global
32. Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty – Italy
33. Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU) – Italy
34. Japan Advocacy Network for Drug Policy
35. Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing
36. Legalize NL, Amsterdam
37. Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat, Indonesia
38. lifespark – movement against the death penalty, Switzerland
39. My Brain My Choice, Germany
40. New York NGO Committee on Drugs (NYNGOC) – Global
41. Redemption Pakistan – Pakistan
42. Schildower Kreis, Germany
43. StoptheDrugWar.org (US)
44. SPINN: Suar Perempuan Lingkar Napza Nusantara, Indonesia
45. The French Collective for the Liberation of Mumia Abu Jamal
46. The Rights Practice, United Kingdom
47. Transform Drug Policy Foundation, UK
48. Youth RISE International
49. Correlation-European Harm Reduction Network
50. Safer Youth Norway
51. Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)
52. German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (GCADP)
53. Scottish Drugs Forum
54. Recovering Nepal
55. Richmond Fellowship Nepal
56. RESET – Drug Policy and Human Rights – Argentina
57. Humaania päihdepolitiikkaa ry – Finland
58. LDH (Ligue des droits de l’Homme/droits humains) – France
59. Akzept e.V. Bundesverband für akzeptierende Drogenarbeit und humane Drogenpolitik –Germany
60. HIV Legal Network/Réseau juridique VIH – Canada
61. Death Penalty Focus (DPF), USA
62. Rótin (The Root), Iceland
63. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty– Global
64. Kurdpa Human Rights Organization

MANILA – Today marks 20 years since the Philippines abolished the death penalty, a historic milestone for the nation as the first Southeast Asian country to legally end capital punishment and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the international treaty abolishing the death penalty in the world. The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) commends this enduring achievement and urges the Philippines to maintain its unwavering commitment to the spirit of abolition despite attempts to reintroduce capital punishment. 

First Southeast Asian Country to Abolish the Death Penalty

On 24 June 2006, Republic No. Act 9346, or An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of the Death Penalty in the Philippines, was enacted, abolishing the death penalty in the Philippines. A year later, the country signed on to the Second Optional Protocol. The abolition of the death penalty not only protected the country’s most vulnerable citizens from irreversible judicial errors, but also granted the Philippines the moral authority to successfully advocate for the lives of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) facing death row abroad, a recent example being Mary Jane Veloso, a human trafficking victim who narrowly escaped execution in Indonesia.

The Philippines first abolished the death penalty in 1987, setting a historic precedent as the first Asian country to do so. However, it was reintroduced in 1993 for 46 different offenses during President Fidel Ramos’s administration in an attempt to mitigate the rising crime rates in the country. Following a brief resumption of capital punishment in 1999, former President Estrada instituted an execution moratorium in 2000, which was then continued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who signed the law and commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment.

What has Happened Since? 

Despite a long history of abolition, the Philippines has faced repeated legislative attempts to reinstate the death penalty, often fueled by populist rhetoric and “tough on crime” agendas especially under President Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure and his “war on drugs” campaign. In 2017, a bill to reintroduce the death penalty for serious drug-related offenses was passed in the House of Representatives, but stalled in the Senate. Following this, there were several other efforts to reintroduce capital punishment, despite local resistance by human rights groups and citizens.

Duterte’s campaign did not stop at the legislative level, he spearheaded a brutal crackdown that involved extrajudicial killings upon alleged “criminals” and those involved in the drug trade, majority of them being from poor and marginalised communities. The exact number of lives lost between 2016 and 2022 is unknown: Philippine police cite up to 7,000 deaths, while the International Criminal Court (ICC), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimate fatalities to be as high as 30,000. 

ADPAN views these attempts to restore capital punishment as inextricably linked to the climate of impunity seen during the “War on Drugs.” State-sanctioned violence, whether through judicial execution or extrajudicial killing, fails to address the root causes of crime.

In 2018, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) conducted a first-of-its-kind national survey showing that only 33% or less of Filipinos favoured the death penalty for illegal drug offenses. This groundbreaking study served as a critical counterargument to official claims regarding the popularity of capital punishment in the country.

The “War on Drugs” also received worldwide scrutiny due to the country’s status as a state-party to the ICCPR. Notable interventions include a 2016 open letter from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee’s adoption of General Comment No. 36 in 2018, which legally solidifies that states-parties to the ICCPR cannot reinstate capital punishment. This global consensus was further underscored in July 2019 when the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines.

What is Happening Now?

Although drug-related fatalities have decreased under the current administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., human rights monitors report that state-sanctioned and vigilante killings continue to claim lives. However, the tangible value of the Philippines’ 2006 abolition continues to bear fruit in the present day. Following her late-2024 repatriation from Indonesia, Mary Jane Veloso remains detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Manila. While civil society and legal groups urgently appeal to the President to grant her executive clemency on humanitarian grounds, her safety from the death penalty underscores the importance and need for abolition. Her case also serves as a reminder that maintaining abolition domestically grants the state the moral authority needed to aggressively protect and defend overseas Filipinos facing capital punishment in foreign jurisdictions.

As we look ahead, ADPAN reiterates that true justice is built on accountability, human rights, and the rule of law—not state-sanctioned violence. 

Our Call to Action

On this 20th anniversary, we call upon:

1. The Marcos Administration to meaningfully address the legacy of the recent drug war, including holding all perpetrators to account and introducing transitional and restorative justice mechanisms;
2. The Marcos Administration and Congress to reject any and all future legislative attempts at the reinstatement of the death penalty and institute meaningful justice reform that addresses the root causes of crime without resorting to execution;
3. Having pioneered the path of abolition in the region, the Philippines as a state to mobilise and influence other states across the Asia-Pacific and the world to abolish the death penalty, along with other like-minded states in the region; and
4. The Marcos Administration, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Migrant Workers, and other relevant agencies, to strengthen legal, consular, and diplomatic assistance for Filipinos abroad facing capital charges or death sentences, and to treat their protection as part of the Philippines’ principled commitment to abolition at home and abroad.

We thus urge the Philippines to embrace its role as a regional leader, actively advocating for global abolition and firmly upholding the Philippines’ standing as a beacon of human rights in Southeast Asia. 

We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Government of Bangladesh to ensure truth, justice, and reparation for victims and their families and guarantees of non-recurrence of enforced disappearances in observance of the International Week of the Disappeared.

In Bangladesh, enforced disappearance was systematically used as a tool of state repression during the 15-and-a-half-year rule of the Awami League government. During this period, secret and unlawful detention facilities operated across the country. Opposition leaders, activists, dissenters, and individuals labeled as “militants” were arbitrarily detained in facilities such as the Joint Interrogation Centre of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the Taskforce Interrogation Centre of the Rapid Action Battalion. Detainees were frequently subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Many were later charged under fabricated cases using laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, the Arms Act, 1878 and the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. These practices contributed to a broader system of repression targeting political opposition and critical voices.

On 5 August 2024, a mass, popular uprising led by students resulted in the fall of the Awami League government. Subsequently, the interim government formed a Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, which documented over 1,600 cases. Of these, 251 individuals remain missing, while 1,282 resurfaced after periods of enforced disappearance and illegal detention. More than 60% of the victims were found to have known political affiliations. The Commission also documented several cases involving cross-border renditions to India.

A key cause of the persistence of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh has been a permissive political and institutional framework. Security-driven narratives helped normalize unlawful practices and effectively embed them within governance structures. These violations were closely linked to the widespread and systematic practice of torture, with victims subjected to prolonged physical and psychological abuse. A culture of impunity became deeply entrenched, with the criminal justice system manipulated to legitimize repression and shield perpetrators. Survivors faced intimidation and were reluctant to come forward.

Bangladesh acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) on 29 August 2024. Prior to this, no specific domestic law criminalized enforced disappearance. In response to its international obligations, the interim government promulgated the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025, and the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025 to criminalize enforced disappearance and to strengthen the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) respectively.

However, following the 13th National Parliamentary Election, the newly elected Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government, despite securing a two-thirds majority, decided not to enact these ordinances into law, rendering them void. Despite assurances from the government regarding the enactment of stronger legislation, recently proposed draft laws on enforced disappearance and the NHRC would significantly weaken institutional independence, oversight, and effectiveness. Under these proposals, the NHRC would be unable to investigate serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, and would be limited to requesting reports from the government—mirroring the limitations of the 2009 NHRC Act. This marks a regression from the 2025 ordinance, which granted the Commission authority to directly investigate security forces.

Both draft laws appear to be diluted versions of the 2025 ordinances and risk undermining accountability mechanisms. Failure to enact the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025 into law constitutes a grave injustice to victims and contradicts the spirit of the July mass uprising. It also contradicts a key provision of the ICPPED requiring states parties to enact domestic laws in line with the treaty. Further, both the 2025 ordinance and the new draft legislation include the death penalty as a sentencing option, and extending the death penalty under this legislation would conflict with Bangladesh’s obligations under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

To date, families of those who remain missing have not been provided with official disappearance certificates, preventing them from accessing bank accounts or managing the property of the victims. Many families continue to live in uncertainty, while many survivors who have returned face ongoing harassment through fabricated legal cases and prolonged court proceedings.

Although the interim government initiated steps toward justice, including investigations by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and the International Crimes Tribunal, progress has significantly slowed since the installation of the elected government in February 2026. Victims and their families continue to endure profound psychological distress and uncertainty.

We consider the failure to enact the 2025 Ordinances and the proposal of weaker legislation to be serious setbacks that undermine victims’ rights and contradict the BNP’s commitments in the July National Charter 2025 to “ensure justice for all victims” of disappearances, killings, and torture. We reiterate that truth, justice, and reparation are essential to restoring the rule of law and preventing recurrence.

We call on the Government of Bangladesh to:

1. Enact comprehensive legislation criminalizing enforced disappearance, following meaningful and inclusive public consultations, in line with the ICPPED, and exclude the death penalty as a sentencing option. 
2. Ensure access to justice and comprehensive reparation, including full compensation, satisfaction, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support for victims and affected relatives as well as guarantees of non-repetition. Those reparation measures should be adopted with the participation of victims and civil society.
3. Provide legal recognition of the status of missing persons and protection to victims’ families, enabling families to access bank accounts and manage movable and immovable property, and official documentation.  
4. Withdraw all fabricated cases against victims of enforced disappearance and release those wrongfully detained, including individuals convicted on the basis of coerced confessions or torture. 
5. Conduct prompt, impartial, and independent investigations into all cases of enforced disappearance and prosecute those responsible with strict adherence to international fair trial standards and regardless of their institutional or political affiliation through appropriate judicial mechanisms, ensuring that no form of impunity is granted. 
6. Enact comprehensive legislation to strengthen the independence and mandate of the NHRC, following meaningful and inclusive public consultations, including by enabling the NHRC to investigate allegations against state actors, including security forces. 
7. Establish transparent diplomatic engagement with India to determine the whereabouts of any Bangladeshi nationals who may have been transferred or detained across borders following enforced disappearance.

Signed by:

• Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
• ARTICLE 19
• Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD)
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
• Capital Punishment Justice Project
• CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
• Fortify Rights 
• Human Rights Watch
• International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED)
• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
• Odhikar
• Omega Research Foundation
• Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
• World Organisation against Torture (OMCT)

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) strongly condemns the imposition of the death penalty by the International Crimes Tribunal‑1 (ICT-1) of Bangladesh in the case of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following her conviction for crimes against humanity in relation to the lethal crackdown on the student-led protests that commenced in June 2024.

As the regional network of civil society organizations and individuals working for the abolition of the death penalty across the Asia Pacific, we reiterate our firm position that justice must never be equated with executions. The death penalty does not enhance accountability, nor does it strengthen the rule of law. On the contrary, it undermines the legitimacy of justice processes by perpetuating a form of state-sanctioned killing.

A Landmark Trial Undermined by Flawed Punishment

While the trial marked a significant moment in Bangladesh’s efforts to reckon with the grave events of 2024, as witnesses came forward voluntarily and a robust evidentiary base was built, the inclusion and imposition of the death penalty at the ICT-1 seriously compromises the legitimacy of its proceedings.

The imposition of the death penalty remains incompatible with Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law, particularly in light of the mounting global consensus towards abolition and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which calls for the restrictive application of the death penalty.

The imposition of the death penalty sends the wrong message at this critical juncture in Bangladesh — that the death penalty is necessary to signal moral outrage, deliver closure, and ensure that the system is ‘tough enough’ on grave crimes. These are dangerous misconceptions. Capital punishment is not an expression of justice. It is its failure.

Trial in Absentia: Exceptional Punishment Demand Exceptional Safeguards

The trial of Sheikh Hasina was conducted in absentia following her flight from Bangladesh to India on 5 August 2024. While trial in absentia may be permitted in exceptional cases, such trials bear a corresponding obligation to uphold the highest guarantees of a fair trial — precisely because a central pillar of justice, the participation of the accused, is absent.

This concern is not about mere technicalities; it goes into the heart of whether the process meets the threshold of fairness required in international law — particularly when the punishment is grave and irreversible, such as the death penalty. 

In transitional settings, the appearance of fairness matters as much as fairness itself. A verdict that risks being perceived as politically motivated or procedurally questionable, especially one that ends in a sentence of death, can fracture public trust rather than rebuild it.

The Deeper Problem: Misconceptions About What Delivers Justice

The sentence of the death penalty underscores a deeper flaw in Bangladesh’s criminal justice landscape: the belief that the death penalty delivers justice, offers closure to victims, and signals moral condemnation. These assumptions are profoundly misguided. Capital punishment is state-sanctioned violence masquerading as accountability. It entrenches retribution over reform and renders any miscarriage of justice permanent.

Accountability for grave crimes demands seriousness of commitment, but not brutality. It must be pursued through penalties that reflect the gravity of the crimes while remaining consistent with human rights norms. The death penalty has no place in a justice system that seeks restoration and nation rebuilding.

ADPAN, therefore, urges the Bangladesh Interim Government to take a principled and rights‑based path forward: abandon capital punishment and cultivate a justice system that does not mirror the violence that it seeks to condemn. Work towards a justice system that rebuilds and restores, rather than one which replicates the violence of the past.

Signatories:

1. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
2. Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP)
3. Redemption Pakistan
4. Freedoms Collective Trust (FCT)

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) expresses serious concern over the recent passage by the Bangladesh Interim Government of an Ordinance that permits the imposition of the death penalty for the crime of enforced disappearance. We agree that the objectives of “The Prevention, Remedy, and Protection against Enforced Disappearance Ordinance” are legitimate to address past violations and prevent them from reoccurring. We also note that it seeks to prohibit the operation of secret detention centers such as the so-called Aynaghar, a long-standing concern for victims and human rights groups. 

However, the protection of human rights must never come at the expense of other human rights. The pursuit of justice for one violation cannot justify the creation of another. Legal measures must comply with international human rights obligations. By prescribing capital punishment, the Ordinance violates Bangladesh’s obligations under international law and undermines the very ideals it seeks to advance. The death penalty is an inhumane punishment that violates the right to life.  

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), Bangladesh is bound to ensure that criminal penalties and procedures respect the inherent dignity of all persons. The UN Human Rights

Committee has long clarified that the death penalty may only be imposed for the “most serious crimes,” meaning crimes involving intentional killing. Extending capital punishment to enforced disappearance, which does not necessarily entail such intent, contravenes Article 6 of the ICCPR and distorts the protective purpose of the ICPPED. Procedural elements of the Ordinance further risk undermining the right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 14 of the ICCPR. The establishment of special tribunals and a rigid 120-day trial deadline may jeopardize the rights to adequate defense – safeguards that are indispensable to justice, especially in cases of grave human rights violations. We have advocated the reality that capital punishment is an ineffective measure to address crime. Penalizing the crime of enforced disappearance, the Ordinance need not include a death penalty provision to enable victims and their families to access justice and demand accountability from perpetrators. 

We appeal to the Interim Government of Bangladesh to reflect on its position and comply with their international human rights obligations. We urge the Interim Government to consider the repeal of those sections of the Ordinance and continue to pursue more effective alternative solutions and appropriate punishments for the crime of enforced disappearance together with civil society, victims’ groups, human rights organizations, and other stakeholders. 

The global trend is clearly towards a world without the death penalty. ADPAN calls on the Interim Government of Bangladesh to focus on taking steps towards the abolition of the death penalty. 

Signatories: 

1. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) 
2. Capital Punishment Justice Project 
3. Redemption Pakistan 
4. Maldivian Democracy Network 
5. Odhikar (Bangladesh) 
6. Justice Project Pakistan 
7. Coalition Against the Death Penalty 

We – the undersigned human rights organisations – express our serious concerns about Bangladesh’s draft Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance 2025. While it is critical to enact a law to hold perpetrators accountable for enforced disappearances, the current draft contains provisions that fail to adhere to international standards. The Interim Government took laudable steps in acceding to the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and establishing the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. However, the draft Ordinance’s definition of enforced disappearances is not compatible with the Convention, among other serious flaws. We are alarmed by reports that the draft Ordinance is progressing without adequate public consultations.

Accountability cannot be achieved without a robust legal framework, developed through a transparent and inclusive consultation process with sufficient time for meaningful feedback.
First, a law of this importance should be developed following extensive consultation with a wide array of stakeholders, including victims, family members, legal experts, and civil society representatives reflecting the plurality of Bangladeshi society. Despite the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances having a mandate to investigate individual cases and make recommendations to address such crimes and prevent future occurrences, there appears to have been no significant role for the Commission in preparing the draft Ordinance – a missed opportunity given its extensive work and expertise. Consultations must not be treated as a tick-box exercise but rather as an essential process to ensure the law, when passed, genuinely reflects public input. Therefore, ahead of the passage of this draft legislation, we call on the Interim Government to ensure robust, meaningful consultation with a wide array of civil society actors, to provide adequate time for feedback, and to ensure this feedback is taken on board insofar as it adheres to international laws and best practice.

Second, the Ordinance must ensure all perpetrators of enforced disappearances, including members of security forces who are responsible through superior or command responsibility, can be held accountable. However, the draft Ordinance’s language limits superior or command responsibility to circumstances where it can be proven a commander ordered, or was involved in supporting, an enforced disappearance. Not only does this shift the onus of proving orders or involvement onto victims, or their representatives, but it also violates international legal standards. Under Article 28 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, commanders are criminally responsible if they knew or should have known about crimes by subordinates but failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or investigate the crimes. Therefore, the current draft Ordinance risks excluding key perpetrators from liability before investigations have begun.

Third, the Ordinance should ensure that the body tasked with investigating enforced disappearances is independent and that its mandate on this issue is established through legislation, rather than executive decree. This legislative foundation is essential to ensure it has the institutional authority and independence to withstand external pressures and to prevent the risk of being dissolved by the government. The draft Ordinance falls short of this in proposing that a new National Commission on the Prevention and Redress of Enforced Disappearances be established only through a gazette notification at the government’s discretion.
Fourth, the investigating body should have jurisdiction to investigate all cases of enforced disappearances. However, the draft Ordinance currently reserves for the exclusive jurisdiction of the International Crimes Tribunal enforced disappearances that were widespread or systematic, i.e. that amount to crimes against humanity. Evidence indicates that the vast majority of enforced disappearances under Sheikh Hasina’s government were widespread or systematic, leaving the investigating body, whether the proposed new commission or another, with little or no role in investigating the thousands of disappearances that are estimated to have occurred.
Fifth, the Ordinance should exclude the death penalty as a sentencing option. The irreversible nature of the death penalty, coupled with the persistent risk of wrongful convictions and its historically disproportionate application, particularly against marginalised groups and political opposition, renders it an inherently flawed and dangerous tool for justice. Extending the application of the death penalty in Bangladesh under this legislation would conflict not only with the constitutional guarantee of the right to life, but also with Bangladesh’s obligations under international law, specifically Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Bangladesh is a state party. The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the ICCPR, clearly expects state parties to progress towards full abolition and prohibits them from extending the death penalty to offences not subject to capital punishment at the time of ratification, as stated in General Comment No. 36.

The global community is increasingly unified in its opposition to capital punishment, as evidenced by the most recent vote at the United Nations General Assembly in December 2024, where over two-thirds of UN member states voted for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. For the first time, Bangladesh abstained from voting, having opposed the resolution in previous years. This was an encouraging step, hopefully towards support for domestic abolition, and we encourage the Interim Government to take the vital next step of declaring an official moratorium on executions and to instruct prosecutors not to seek the death penalty. As the authorities of Bangladesh advance accountability and protections in the country, they cannot seek to address human rights violations via a form of punishment that is incompatible with human rights and human dignity.

Finally, the draft Ordinance allows for trials to be conducted in absentia. While this provision may be included to avoid potential delays, it would fundamentally compromise an accused person’s right to a fair trial as set out in Article 14 of the ICCPR, which is a cornerstone of any legitimate legal process.
The potential for the proposed Ordinance to be weaponised underscores broader concerns about legal transparency and the integrity of Bangladesh’s justice system. This not only risks injustice but also threatens to erode public confidence in the legal system. The Interim Government of Bangladesh must remove the death penalty and any other provisions that contravene international laws and standards from the draft Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance 2025.

Signed by:
Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Capital Punishment Justice Project
Fortify Rights
Human Rights Watch
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM)
World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

His Excellency António Guterres

Secretary-General of the United Nations

Dear Secretary-General:

As human rights organizations, we write to respectfully urge you to do everything in your power to provide U.N. support to Bangladesh during this critical period in the country’s political transition.

Bangladesh is now undergoing unprecedented changes following widespread protests that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in August 2024. As concluded by the February 2025 fact-finding report of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Bangladeshi security forces engaged in extrajudicial killings and other abuses to suppress the protests with the approval and direction of top political leaders. These actions were the culmination of fifteen years of gross human rights violations by security forces under Hasina’s government, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, members of the political opposition, journalists, and other perceived critics.

Profound changes are now urgently needed to protect civic space, ensure justice for victims of human rights abuses, and reform the security sector, the judiciary, and electoral processes in accordance with principles of transparency, accountability, and respect for fundamental rights. The Interim Government of Bangladesh has a critical but also narrowing window of opportunity before elections to make lasting institutional reforms that withstand backsliding by future governments.

To support accountability and security sector reform, the U.N. Department of Peace Operations should immediately suspend from U.N. missions all current and former members of the Rapid Action Battalion, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch, and all other units implicated in abuses, pending Bangladesh’s implementation of rigorous screening processes of security forces recommended by the OHCHR report. OHCHR’s recommendation echoes the concerns expressed by other U.N. experts, including the U.N. Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances and the U.N. Committee against Torture, that Bangladeshi security forces implicated in grave human rights abuses should not be deployed for U.N. peace operations.

The Interim Government has also expressed concerns about the pressure of hosting over a million Rohingya refugees. Not only has the refugee population grown over the past year, but more Rohingya, as well as others, are now fleeing renewed hostilities between the Arakan Army and the military in Myanmar and seeking shelter in Bangladesh. We are deeply concerned that funding shortfalls may force the U.N. World Food Programme to more than halve the value of food vouchers given to Rohingya refugees to just US$6 per person per month from April 1. We ask you to redouble efforts to ensure that U.N. agencies have adequate resources to support the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees. We urge you to ensure U.N. leadership in hosting a high-level conference on Rohingya, as decided by the U.N. General Assembly in the Third Committee resolution last year, explores avenues for justice and accountability in Myanmar that would end decades of impunity, and discusses enhanced humanitarian assistance, including for those across the border.

In the current context, we recognize the value of U.N. experts in supporting the people of Bangladesh in the country’s transition to a flourishing democracy. We ask you to urge the Interim Government of Bangladesh to carry out the following recommendations, which we have also put to them ourselves, and to pledge the U.N.’s support in helping them in the process:

• Hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations, including members of security forces who are responsible directly or through command responsibility. Conduct independent, impartial, and credible investigations into all past abuses–including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention by Hasina’s government since 2009–and the killings in July and August 2024. With arrest warrants issued by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for Sheikh Hasina and dozens of others, it is essential that investigations comply with established international standards and lead to fair prosecutions of all alleged perpetrators, regardless of their institutional or political affiliation in Bangladesh’s pursuit of ending impunity.  

• Ensure the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act is further amended in line with international standards to guarantee fair trials for all alleged perpetrators, and declare a moratorium on the death penalty, with a view towards enacting a law to abolish capital punishment for all crimes. Though the Interim Government has made progress in amending the Act, the elimination of the death penalty and additional due process protections that adhere to international standards are still necessary to break with the ICT’s past fair trial violations and secure meaningful justice.

• Security forces must immediately release anyone who is forcibly disappeared or in unlawful or arbitrary custody and provide answers about those who were extrajudicially executed or are missing. Security forces must ensure unfettered and ongoing access to all detention centers in Bangladesh and provide free access to their records regarding those seized or detained to Bangladesh’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and other key actors, including the National Human Rights Commission.

 

• Disband the Rapid Action Battalion, as recommended by the OHCHR report and Bangladesh’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. The Rapid Action Battalion’s track record of committing extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture with impunity not only demands accountability but also underscores that the institution is beyond reform. It must be fully disbanded to guard against the serious risk of future abuses and to demonstrate commitment to building a rights-respecting security force.

• Implement rigorous, fair, transparent, and independent vetting processes across all security forces to remove those involved in gross human rights violations from their positions, and ensure ongoing vetting to prevent the deployment in U.N. peace operations of anyone facing credible allegations of abuse. Pending the establishment of this screening process, the government should immediately suspend from U.N. missions all current and former members of the Rapid Action Battalion, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch, and all others facing credible allegations of abuse. Vetting processes should prioritize identifying those responsible for human rights abuses, provide adequate due process, and take place in consultation with the public and international experts.

• Pursue a resolution under item 10 at the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC). The resolution should request technical assistance, monitoring, reporting, and further investigations from U.N. experts to advance accountability, justice processes, and critical institutional reforms. An HRC resolution will provide the strong institutional framework necessary to bolster positive reform efforts by both current and future administrations, with ongoing U.N. support and reporting.

• Approve the establishment of a permanent mission of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bangladesh to support transparent investigations into past abuses, compliance with human rights obligations, and effective institutional reforms, particularly of the security sector, judiciary, election commission, and the National Human Rights Commission. 

• Guarantee access to the country for international human rights monitors, including by extending a standing invitation to all U.N. Human Rights Council special procedures, as recommended by the OHCHR report, including the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture, to support efforts to ensure justice for victims, reform laws, and rebuild criminal justice institutions. Human rights monitors should be free to carry out their work in all areas of the country and have unfettered access to detention sites to engage in effective investigations and reporting.

• Repeal or amend in line with international standards abusive laws that have been used to restrict freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and other fundamental rights, such as the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Official Secrets Act, criminal defamation under the Penal Code, the Special Powers Act, the Cyber Security Act 2023, and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act following a robust public consultative process. The government should withdraw or facilitate the dismissal of all politically motivated and other malicious cases against journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and other citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, brought in violation of international human rights standards, particularly concerning the exercise of the right to freedom of expression.

• Ensure the protection, access to aid, and rights of Rohingya refugees. We urge the Interim Government to allow new refugees fleeing Myanmar to enter Bangladesh, to register them in partnership with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and to ensure they receive humanitarian assistance. All Rohingya refugees should be guaranteed access to aid, livelihoods, education, and freedom of movement, and should not be subjected to forcible relocations to Bhasan Char or forced repatriations to Myanmar. Although the government has said that repatriation is the only solution to the refugee crisis, we know that all parts of Myanmar currently remain unsafe for return. We encourage the Interim Government to use the upcoming high-level conference on Rohingya to pursue avenues for justice and accountability in Myanmar.

• Adopt a gender sensitive and intersectional approach in the implementation of all of these recommendations, as human rights violations and their impacts are often experienced differently based on gender, as well as other factors, such as ethnicity, disability, religion, or socio-economic status. This approach will ensure that the reforms and accountability measures comprehensively address the diverse needs and experiences of all people in the country.

We trust you share our goal of ensuring that the people of Bangladesh, who fought so hard for the country’s future, receive every opportunity for international support in the pursuit of democratic and rights-respecting institutions.

Sincerely,

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Human Rights Watch

International Truth and Justice Project

CIVICUS

Tech Global Institute

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Fortify Rights

Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP)

Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD)

We, the undersigned, urgently bring to your attention a disturbing development concerning the  Government of Bangladesh. An email dated 25 July 2024, sent by the Government to its overseas  embassies, instructs them to counter the current narrative regarding the situation in Bangladesh.  This communication seeks to manipulate host governments and media outlets, mitigate negative  portrayals, and exploit favourable diaspora to distort public perception. 

We vehemently condemn the Bangladesh Government’s brazen attempts to spread misinformation  and fabricate narratives about the situation in the country. These actions are a deliberate effort to  obscure the truth and prevent the real picture from being exposed. This communication from the  Bangladesh Government is nothing short of foreign interference and transnational repression. Such  actions are intolerable and violate the core principles of free speech and democratic engagement. 

The protests broke out on 1 July 2024, quickly spreading across universities in Bangladesh.  Students were demanding the repeal of the quota system reinstated by the High Court on June 5,  2024, which reserved 30% of first and second-class government jobs for descendants of 1971  freedom fighters. Although the system was abolished in 2018 after widespread protests, its  reinstatement prompted a new wave of demonstrations, with students calling it discriminatory and  demanding its cancellation. 

The protesting students were met with a brutal crackdown and unprecedented violence,  highlighting the Awami League government’s continued pattern of violent repression against  peaceful assembly and dissent. Over 200 protestors have been killed, 9000 arrested, and countless  others severely injured. Security forces, including police and military, have resorted to extreme  measures and a shoot-to-kill approach, as evidenced by firing bird shots and pellets at close range,  using tear gas in enclosed spaces, and conducting overnight abductions. Videos verified by  Amnesty International show officers dragging injured protesters and failing to provide medical aid. 

These actions have caused severe injuries and permanent disabilities. The use of armed forces  against unarmed civilians is a gross abuse of power and a violation of international norms. 

On July 21, 2024, the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas, but students in Bangladesh have  expanded their protests. They now demand a public apology and acceptance of responsibility from  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the resignation of key ministers and university officials, and a ban  on the Bangladesh Chhatra League from student politics, among other demands. They vow to  continue protesting until these demands are met. 

The witch hunt against protest leaders and participants has intensified, with overnight abductions  and arbitrary arrests of student human rights defenders. The government is relentless in silencing  and punishing those demanding justice and reform, with alarming reports of torture and ill treatment of detainees. 

The situation has been further exacerbated by the government-imposed Internet shutdown, which  lasted for 11 days. Not only the Internet and mobile services are cut off, online media are  inaccessible. The Internet is still slowed while restrictions persist on social media platforms and  two online media that were based outside Bangladesh: Netra News and Bangla Outlook could not  be accessed from inside Bangladesh. This deliberate action has severely limited communication  and access to information. Such measures are clear attempts to limit freedom of expression,  freedom of press, and digital rights, and control the narrative by cutting off the population from  the outside world. This is an egregious assault on freedom of information and a desperate bid to  hide the government’s crimes. 

Journalists have been targeted in this violent crackdown. At least 30 reporters have been attacked,  and at least three journalists have been killed while covering the protests. This assault on press  freedom is a direct attack on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms. 

The role of the military and police along with vigilante groups such as the Bangladesh Chhatra  League, in perpetuating this violence is undeniable and reprehensible. Soldiers have been  deployed on the streets, tanks stationed across Dhaka, and curfews imposed to crush the protests.  The government’s response, marked by abductions, severe beatings, and impunity for state-aligned  vigilantes, showcases a regime willing to go to any lengths to desperately cling to power. The use of armed forces against unarmed civilians is a gross abuse of power and a violation of international  norms. 

We echo the urgent calls from United Nations experts, including Human Rights Chief Volker Turk  and Special Rapporteur Irene Khan, for an impartial, independent, and transparent investigation  into the alleged human rights violations during the crackdown on protesters. The government’s  handling of the mass protests, marked by significant casualties and widespread arrests, must be  scrutinized without delay. 

We demand that embassies and international bodies take immediate action as outlined below: 

1. Call on the Bangladesh Government to immediately halt all killings and other forms of  violence against protesters. 
2. Immediately advocate for and support an international commission of inquiry, established  by the UN Human Rights Council, for an impartial, independent, and transparent  investigation into the human rights violations. 
3. Resist any and all pressures from the Bangladesh Government to alter the narrative and  ensure that accurate and truthful information is disseminated. 
4. Urgently support secure platforms for documenting and submitting evidence of human  rights abuses. 
5. Work tirelessly to hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable through  appropriate legal and diplomatic channels. 
6. Demand the immediate restoration of full internet access and the lifting of all restrictions  on social media platforms and online news outlets to ensure the free flow of information. 7. Strongly condemn the use of military and police forces against unarmed civilians and  demand the immediate demilitarization of the response to peaceful protests. 8. Stand in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh who are courageously fighting for justice  and democratic reform. 

The international community must remain vigilant against the Bangladesh Government’s egregious  attempts to manipulate the narrative. We must collectively ensure that accurate information  prevails, and the voices of those fighting for justice and reform in Bangladesh are heard and supported. We urge all concerned parties to decisively reject misinformation and uphold the  principles of transparency, accountability, human rights and the rule of law. 

Sincerely, 

Signature Organizations (Alphabetical Order as of August 4, 2024) 

1. Advocacy Forum-Nepal 
2. Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia 
3. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) 
4. Asean Youth Forum (AYF) 
5. Asia Dalit Rights Forum (ADRF) 
6. Asia Democracy Network 
7. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 
8. Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN Indonesia). 
9. Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) 
10. Asociación Pro Búsqueda de Niñas y Niños Desaparecidos – El Salvador 
11. Association of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared (AFMD)-Sri Lanka
12. Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) 
13. Balaod Mindanaw 
14. Bir Duino – Kyrgystan 
15. Bytes for All, Pakistan 
16. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC Cambodia) Capital Punishment Justice Project, Australia 
17. Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), South Korea 
18. Coalition for Equality – Kyrgyzstan 
19. Conflict Victims’ Society for Justice, Nepal 
20. Defence of Human Rights Pakistan (DHR) 
21. Desaparecidos, Philippines 
22. Families of the Disappeared (FOD) – Sri Lanka 
23. Free Jonas Burgos Movement, Philippines 
24. Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) / Initiative for  International Dialogue. (IID).
25. Human Rights Hub, Sri Lanka 
26. Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) 
27. Human Rights Now (Japan) 
28. Hustisya, Philippines 
29. Indonesia Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI). 
30.  Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) 
31. Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) 33. 
32. Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) Indonesia 34. 
33. International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED) 
34. International Legal Initiative Foundation, Kazakhstan 
35. Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN) 
36. Karapatan Alliance, Philippines 
37. Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre, Nepal 
38. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law 
39. Law and Society Trust (LST) Sri Lanka 
40. Legal Literacy-Nepal 
41. Liga Guatemalteca de Higiene Mental, Guatemala 
42. Madres de Plaza de Mayo – Linea Fundadora – Argentina.
43. Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) 
44. National Commission for Justice and Peace, NCJP 
45. Nonviolence International Canada 
46. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) 
47. PIKAT Demokrasi, Indonesia 
48. Public Association “Dignity”, Kazakhstan 
49. Pusat Komas 
50. South Asia Youth Network 
51. Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), Indonesia 
52. Sri Lanka Democracy Network. 
53. Sydney Policy and Analysis Center 
54. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFD-P) 
55. The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
56. The Globe International Center 
57. Think Centre, Singapore 
58. Torture Coalition and Survivors Support Coalition, Washington DC
59. We Remember-Belarus 
60. Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), Nepal

The undersigned human rights organizations express our serious concerns over ongoing, brutal crackdowns on protesters in Bangladesh by law enforcement agencies, security forces, and members of the ruling party. Students across the country are protesting against a system of quotas in the recruitment of public servants. The government of Bangladesh has deployed Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Border Guards-Bangladesh (BGB) to quell the protests in major cities around the country. We urge the Government to immediately cease these crackdowns on student protests.

Credible information analyzed by human rights groups and media reports confirms that at least 33 people have been killed, including a journalist, since the protests commenced on 15 July, while scores were seriously injured. Law enforcement agencies and security forces have been seen driving armored personnel carriers (APCs), and local and international media have reported on the use of teargas, sound grenades, rubber and pellet bullets, and water cannons against protesters. Media reports indicate that members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the ruling party’s student wing, were seen beating protesters, including women students, with both blunt and sharp weapons and guns. The government has shut down universities and other educational institutions, with students ordered to vacate the dormitories.

Human rights defenders and journalists, who have requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, report that, as of late night on 18 July, joint forces comprising the Police, RAB, and BGB were conducting massive crackdowns across Dhaka and other cities with public universities. The government has reportedly shut down electricity and blacked out communications, including mobile phone networks and the internet, during these operations. Journalists were allegedly prevented from covering the violent actions of the security forces and law enforcement agencies. Members of the BCL wearing helmets and carrying weapons are reported to have entered the emergency units of hospitals to further attack injured protesters. The police have been accused of preventing ambulances from helping wounded students at the Jahangirnagar University on the outskirts of Dhaka. Bangladesh-based journalists have been forced to censor their reports of the gross abuses being carried out by the security forces. The police have registered several cases against named and un-named protesters, and large-scale arbitrary arrests and detention are going on while torture in custody is a norm of the law enforcement agencies in the country.

Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies consistently disregard the United Nations’ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. The government of Bangladesh, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has established an ‘appalling and pervasive culture of impunity’ for gross human rights violations and a system of rewarding perpetrators. In the given context, victims of serious human rights violations are systematically deprived of access to justice. Bangladesh has consistently failed to hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations over the past decade. 

This has created a de facto system of denial of justice in Bangladesh, which warrants the international community’s urgent attention to hold perpetrators accountable and demand that the Bangladeshi government comply with its international human rights obligations. There are growing concerns that members of the security forces and members of the Judiciary regularly enjoy the opportunity to join the UN Peacekeeping Operations. In light of such ongoing massive violations of human rights, personnel of security forces, law enforcement agencies, and the police should be banned from participating in the UN Peacekeeping Missions without a credible system of scrutiny.

We strongly call on the Bangladeshi government to immediately stop the crackdown on protests and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with the students and investigate the use of violence to stifle the demonstrations. Perpetrators should be held accountable through genuine and independent investigations. The international community, including the UN Department of Peace Operations, has a responsibility to ensure that the same forces that are committing crimes in Bangladesh do not join peacekeeping forces abroad.

Signed:

• Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
• Capital Punishment Justice Project
• Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
• Eleos Justice, Monash University
• Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network