Download/Read Half Yearly Human Rights Bulletin-19

Human Rights Support Society publishes Human Rights Situation Analysis Report regularly, based on data collected from twelve prominent national dailies and fact-finding reports prepared by country-wide representatives, as a part of its diversified activities. It is dedicated to ensuring all sorts of human rights for people through building awareness as well as monitoring and publishing human rights situation, providing legal aid to the poor and victims, helping destitute people and conducting advocacy with the government and other concerned authorities from home and abroad. HRSS also encourages the common people to involve in various human rights activities. As part of this initiative, HRSS is going to publish half-yearly Human Rights Situation Analysis Report from January to June 2019.The report shows that the overall human rights condition are almost with the same flow as before in 2018, as the government limited political and civil society space, continued to keep abusive security forces from liability, especially ongoing extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, abduction, violence against women e.g. rape, gang rape, child-rape and arbitrary arrest have increased tremendously. Consequently, the state does not able to ensure peace, justice and security to its citizens. As a result, all sorts of monstrous activities including human trafficking, extra judicial killing, abduction, enforced disappearance, murder, rape and torture are massively spread out in society.
According to the sources of HRSS, at least 216 persons were killed extra-judicially from January to June 2019. Out of them, 202 people were killed in the name of ‘crossfire/gunfights’, 06 were tortured to Death, 1 was shot to death and 07 died in the custody. The deaths occurred during raids, arrests as well as during the operations conducted by the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs).As usual, the government regretfully describes these deaths as “crossfire/gunfights/encounter killings” and so on.
During the first six months of 2019, the occurrences of enforced disappearances were also continued. Unfortunately, most of the cases of enforced disappearances are accused against the security forces such as RAB, DB, and Police. According to HRSS observation, a total of 18 persons have been disappeared by the law enforcement agency in different incidents with alleged ties to security personnel during the reporting time.
Moreover, the HRSS report finds that from January to June 2019, a total 738 females were raped. Among them, 275 victims were adult whereas alarmingly 463 were children under 16. It’s a rising concern in the incidence of raping crime that among victims at least 104 of them have been gang-raped. Among the victims, at least 29 were brutally killed after being raped.

From January to June 2019, about 76 women were killed in the family feud, 39 females were injured and 11 female was suicide for Family feud in a 126 incidences. Approximately 62 incidents of dowry-related violence were reported. About 36 were killed, 25 women physically abused over dowry demands and 1 female was suicide for dowry related violence. A total of 109 girls and women were reportedly victims of sexual harassment. Around 11 incidents of Acid violence were occurred and 12 females were injured between January and June 2019.
It has also been reported that a total of 251 people were abducted in different areas of the country, among them approximately 115 were male, 30 females, 106 children, and 81 were killed after the abduction. Moreover, at least 29 people were killed and 1389 people were injured in political violence whereas around 45 people were killed in public lynching.
HRSS has also observed the incidents of attacks on minorities, in the first six months of 2019, where 11 people were injured, 2 land grabbing and 10 temples were attacked in a total of approximately 8 incidents.
It is alarming that in a total of 66 violent incidents against children, 26 lost their life and 101 were critically injured in the first six months of 2019, as reported by HRSS. On the other hand, a total of 103 violent incidents on unarmed civilians were happened where 97 were killed and 41 seriously injured, and roughly 2 persons were hit bullet. During the first six months 0f 2019, 28 people were arrested and 27 case filed in a total of 25 incidents of security act 2018.
Moreover, due to the silence of the Government combined with its loose foreign policy with India, unexpected occurrences increased in the border area of the country. Bangladeshi citizens became the victims of suspected killings, torture, and other forms of inhumane treatments. It has been reported that, 18 Bangladeshi citizens were killed, 3 injured, and nearly 8 arrested by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and 4 persons were arrested by BGP. Such human rights violation has not even been reported to the respective high commission in some cases. As a result, such events have been increasing day by day.
According to data collected by HRSS, around 42 journalists were injured, nearly 9 were threatened, about 9 were arrested and 4 were assaulted in nearly 55 incidents in 2019. It has also been reported that in a total of 65 incidents of inhuman torture and shooting by law Enforcement Agencies (LIEs) 517 people were injured, 37 were bullet hit and 18 people were tortured. Moreover, unexpectedly in the first six months of 2019, a total of 532 dead bodies were found in different areas of the country, among them 380 bodies were male and 135 bodies were female and 17 bodies were unidentified.

HRSS expects that this report will help mass people, civil society organizations as well as an international community by providing them with a concrete and evidential exposure to current dreadful and degrading human rights situation in Bangladesh. HRSS is deeply concerned about the degradation of human rights condition in the country. It urges both public and private human rights organizations as well as common citizens to raise their voice to protect and promote human rights in Bangladesh.