In a pointed joint letter addressed to Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus, a coalition of prominent international human rights organizations has commended initial reforms under the interim government while issuing a stark warning: the narrow path to 2026 elections risks being derailed by unreformed security forces, politically motivated arrests, and a troubling tilt toward Islamist influences that threaten the fragile gains of the July 2024 Revolution.
The letter, released on October 19, follows a high-level meeting between Yunus and representatives from CIVICUS, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Fortify Rights, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and the Tech Global Institute during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2025.
The missive arrives at a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, more than a year after student-led protestsโknown as the July Revolutionโtoppled the authoritarian regime of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party on August 5, 2024.
Hasina’s ouster ended 15 years of rule marked by widespread allegations of corruption, extrajudicial killings, and the suppression of dissent, including the enforced disappearance of over 700 individuals, many attributed to elite security units like the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).
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The revolution, initially a beacon of youth-driven hope for democratic renewal, has since given way to a complex interim landscape under Yunus’s leadership, where promises of accountability clash with accusations of selective justice and creeping radicalization.
Acknowledging Progress, But Demanding Urgency
The organizations express “deep appreciation” for Yunus’s engagement at UNGA 2025, crediting the interim government with “critical steps” such as restoring basic freedoms, launching legal reforms, and probing past abuses. These include the International Crimes Tribunal’s (ICT) issuance of arrest warrants against military officers for crimes against humanityโa rare assertion of civilian oversight over the armed forces. Yet, the letter underscores the ticking clock: with elections slated for late 2026, Bangladesh must fortify institutions to prevent “future backsliding” into authoritarianism.
At the core of their appeal is a call for comprehensive security sector reform. The RAB, long infamous for its role in over 600 extrajudicial killings and thousands of enforced disappearances under Hasina’s tenure, is deemed “well beyond reform” and must be disbanded outright.
Similarly, the DGFI’s history of abductions demands a strict redefinition of its mandate to pure military intelligence, stripping it of domestic policing powers. Without these changes, the groups warn, the military’s lingering influence could undermine the ICT’s independence, as evidenced by its tepid cooperation in ongoing probes.
Criticism Mounts: A Government in Jamaat’s Shadow?
While the letter diplomatically avoids naming specific political actors, the subtextโand broader contextโpoints to a growing critique of the interim government’s composition and direction.
Yunus, the Nobel laureate economist who assumed power as Chief Adviser in August 2024, leads a technocratic cabinet heavily influenced by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and, more alarmingly, the Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat)โthe Islamist opposition party banned under Hasina but now wielding de facto control through allied student leaders and advisory roles.
Critics, including exiled Awami League figures and independent analysts, argue this “Jamaat-controlled” dynamic has fostered a vengeful governance style, prioritizing retribution against Hasina’s supporters over impartial justice.
The letter explicitly condemns “ongoing arbitrary arrests and detentions,” including against Awami League members that “appear politically motivated and lack credible evidence.” Since August 2024, over 1,500 Awami League affiliates have been detained on charges ranging from sedition to terrorism, often under the draconian Anti-Terrorism Actโa law the groups demand be overhauled.
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Human Rights Watch documented at least 200 such cases in a September 2025 report, highlighting instances where peaceful protests were branded as “anti-state” activities, echoing Hasina-era tactics but now inverted against her base. The broad ban on Awami League operations, justified under anti-terror provisions, has effectively disenfranchised millions of voters, contravening UN recommendations from a February 2025 fact-finding mission that decried party bans as a barrier to “genuine multi-party democracy.”
This selective enforcement reeks of hypocrisy, observers note. While the ICT pursues Hasina loyalists for revolution-era atrocitiesโwelcome accountability for someโthe interim regime has shielded Jamaat-linked figures implicated in vigilante violence post-revolution.
Reports from the CPJ reveal a surge in attacks on secular journalists, with at least 15 incidents since January 2025 linked to Islamist mobs, often met with official indifference. The letter’s plea to protect press freedom “regardless of perceived political affiliation” lands as a direct rebuke to this environment, where Yunus’s government has failed to implement Media Reform Commission recommendations, allowing harassment to fester.
Moreover, the NGOs decry the Cyber Security Ordinance 2025 as a flawed successor to the repealed 2023 Act, riddled with “overbroad and ambiguous terms” enabling surveillance and censorship. In a nation where digital dissent fueled the July uprising, this ordinanceโrushed through without adequate consultationโmirrors the surveillance state Hasina built, now repurposed to monitor “anti-Islamic” voices.
Proposed data protection laws fare no better, granting “sweeping exemptions” to state actors, a boon for a DGFI still operating in shadows despite reform rhetoric.
Civil society bears the brunt too. The NGO Affairs Bureau, once a Hasina tool for stifling foreign funding, remains unreformed, delaying projects critical for human rights monitoring. The letter demands its overhaul to end “burdensome oversight,” a nod to how Jamaat sympathizers within the bureaucracy have weaponized it against progressive groups.
Rohingya Plight: Repatriation Rhetoric vs. Reality
On the humanitarian front, the groups challenge Yunus’s UN statements framing Rohingya repatriation as the “only solution,” including for the 150,000 arrivals since late 2023 fleeing Myanmar’s escalating genocide. While refugees aspire to return, no Myanmar regionโRakhine State includedโis safe amid ongoing Arakan Army clashes and junta atrocities. Bangladesh hosts over 1.2 million Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar camps, strained by aid cuts from Western donors amid global fatigue.
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The interim government, cash-strapped and populist, has imposed draconian camp restrictions on movement, work, and education, exacerbating desperation. The letter urges easing these to foster self-reliance, while cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into Myanmarโcooperation that includes surrendering any fugitives on Bangladeshi soil, a test of Yunus’s commitment to international law.
Critics see Yunus’s repatriation push as pandering to domestic Islamist constituencies, including Jamaat, which has historically viewed Rohingya as a security threat rather than victims. This stance risks forced returns, violating non-refoulement principles and echoing Hasina’s unfulfilled promises.
A Call to Action: From Moratoriums to Morals
The letter outlines a roadmap: criminalize enforced disappearances sans death penalty; empower the National Human Rights Commission per Paris Principles; repeal abusive laws like the Special Powers Act; and review all politically tinged cases for dismissal. A moratorium on executions, including ICT verdicts, is imperative to align with global norms.
Yet, the Yunus government’s track record invites skepticism. Despite disbanding RAB’s most notorious units in name, core personnel persist in other forces, perpetuating impunity. The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, launched in October 2024, languishes without military access to recordsโa delay Jamaat’s military ties may tacitly enable. As one HRW analyst noted anonymously, “Yunus’s idealism is noble, but his reliance on BNP-Jamaat coalitions has birthed a Frankenstein: a regime that preaches reform while practicing exclusionary politics.”
Bangladesh stands at a crossroads. The July Revolution’s idealsโjustice, pluralism, rightsโdemand more than half-measures. International pressure, as embodied in this letter, could tip the scales toward inclusive elections. But if Yunus succumbs to his coalition’s majoritarian impulses, the interim era risks cementing a new orthodoxy: one where Jamaat’s shadow eclipses democratic dawn.
For the signatories, the message is clear: Act now, or the revolution’s promise dissolves into yesterday’s authoritarianism, rebranded.
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