September 14, 2023 - The undersigned human rights organisations, including the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, call on Bangladesh authorities to immediately release human rights defenders
Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, quash their convictions,
and end all reprisals against them for their legitimate human rights
work. Khan and Elan were sentenced by the
Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka to two years’ of prison and a 10,000 Bangladeshi
Taka fine each in retaliation for their work documenting human rights
violations in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Government has
persistently targeted and launched a smear campaign against Khan and
Elan, the secretary and director, respectively, of prominent Bangladeshi
human rights organization Odhikar. Following the 2013 publication of
Odhikar’s fact-finding report documenting extrajudicial killings during a
protest, both defenders were arbitrarily detained – Khan for 62 and
Elan for 25 days. After being released on bail, they continued to face
prosecution and judicial harassment on trumped-up allegations that their
2013 report was “fake, distorted, and defamatory.”
After years of stalling, Bangladeshi judicial authorities accelerated the hearings in their case following the designation of US sanctions
against the country’s notoriously abusive paramilitary Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB) and its officials in December 2021, blaming human rights
organizations like Odhikar for this outcome. Their case has been marred
with due process violations, such as the failure to provide the defense
with advance information on the prosecution witnesses or a copy of the Criminal Investigation Department’s further investigation report until the day before a hearing.
In addition to targeting Odhikar’s
leaders, the Government interfered with the organization’s ability to
conduct its human rights work by blocking their access to funds and
leaving its registration renewal application pending since 2014.
Following the US sanction designations, the Government increased surveillance and harassment
against those affiliated with Odhikar and ordered the organization to
provide sources and proof for its findings of enforced disappearances
and extrajudicial killings. On June 5, 2022, the Government’s NGO
Affairs Bureau officially denied Odhikar’s application for renewal, stating that the organization’s publications have “seriously tarnished the image of the state to the world.”
The Government then continued to besmirch the organization publicly, even criticizing and questioning the credibility of the US Department of State’s 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Bangladesh for relying on Odhikar’s documentation. UN human rights experts have expressed their concerns over
the Government’s actions, stating that “the defamation of
Bangladeshi-based human rights organisations by high-profile public
figures is a clear attempt to undermine their credibility, reputation
and human rights work in the country.”
Human rights defenders should be
allowed to conduct their necessary and important work without fear of
harassment, intimidation, and reprisals. Instead of prosecuting and
punishing those who document and expose human rights violations, the
Government should investigate and hold the perpetrators of these
violations accountable.
We stand with Khan and Elan and urge
the authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally, as
they have been detained solely for their human rights work. The
authorities should reverse their convictions, and ensure they are able
to continue their human rights documenting and reporting without fear of
reprisals.
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