Dhaka, Oct 31 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation highlighted alarming patterns of violence, intimidation, and systemic repression against lawyers in Bangladesh under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
In its report titled, “Crackdown Against Independence of Lawyers in Bangladesh under the Interim Government”, Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) documented one of the most comprehensive records of state-sponsored persecution of the legal profession in Bangladesh’s history following the fall of the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina.
Drawing on 268 verified incidents affecting 849 lawyers between August 2024 and September 2025, the report exposed a coordinated campaign to neutralise pro-Awami League lawyers, silence political dissent, and subjugate the justice system.
As per the findings, 88 per cent of incidents and 93 per cent of victims involved lawyers affiliated with or perceived as supportive of the Awami League, while political belief emerged as the dominant motive in 187 incidents affecting 730 victims.
“200 incidents (721 victims) involved false or politically motivated cases, including murder, attempted murder, sabotage, vandalism, and sedition. Authorities routinely invoked Section 54 of the CrPC, the Special Powers Act, and the Anti-Terrorism Act to justify arbitrary arrests and detentions,” the report detailed, highlighting the harassment of lawyers in Bangladesh.
“75 incidents (203 victims) involved imprisonment, often following warrantless arrests or coerced ‘voluntary surrenders.’ High-profile victims such as Barrister Turin Afroz endured brutal torture, cigarette burns, and gender-based humiliation in custody,” it added.
According to the report, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami aligned lawyers forcibly occupied 16 bar committees, including the Bangladesh Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association, ousting elected Awami League members. Additionally, in 44 bar association elections, Awami League lawyers were prevented from contesting through intimidation and fabricated charges.
The JMBF revealed that 46 judges and judicial officers were persecuted through arrests, forced resignations, or dismissals. Six Appellate Division justices, including a Chief Justice, it said, were forced to resign, while others faced fabricated charges— reflecting systematic interference in the judiciary.
The rights body urged the United Nations, the European Union, the Commonwealth, and partner governments to condemn the crackdown on lawyers in Bangladesh and to demand compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and UN Basic Principles.
It also called for sanctions against officials responsible for grave abuses and for monitoring of politically motivated trials through international trial observation missions.
–IANS
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