In its 2026 report on Bangladesh, the US deep state-backed Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised the jihadist- and army-backed interim government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, for adding hundreds of unnamed individuals as suspects in criminal complaints.
Hundreds of Awami League leaders, members, and supporters are in custody as murder suspects, held without trial and routinely denied bail. This includes actors, lawyers, singers, and political activists, the New York-based rights group said.
A further set of cases was launched following a clash between Awami League members and student protesters on February 8, 2025, in a campaign called “Operation Devil Hunt,” leading to at least 8,600 arrests. Many others may have been arrested under the draconian Special Powers Act and Anti-Terrorism Act. On July 16, security forces killed five supporters of the Awami League in Gopalganj, the report said.
The featured photo attached to this report on the HRW website shows men and women attending a demonstration by the Maayer Daak, a US-backed rights group that campaigns for justice for disappearance victims. The photo also features Col (Retired) Hasinur Rahman, an extremist patron and mob leader working with the Jamaat-Yunus nexus.
While the report highlights the interim administration’s performance in various sectors, it hides the misdeeds of Yunus and his cohorts and does not question the illegal and unconstitutional decisions, ordinances and secret deals with foreign countries and companies.
In 2025, hundreds of people, mostly Awami League supporters, were killed in mob attacks and political violence, while over 100 others were killed extrajudicially by the security forces. On the other hand, the Awami League says over 6,000 of its leaders and activists were subjected to enforced disappearance from August 2024 to January 2026. It says over 1,00,000 party activists, including 120 ministers and MPs, were arrested in false cases, while some 5,00,000 were facing various charges.
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The interim government established several commissions to recommend reforms, including in the judiciary, electoral system, police, women’s rights, labour rights, and the constitution. A Consensus Commission chaired by Yunus was then established to complete a package of recommended reforms. However, for reasons including a lack of consensus among political stakeholders, few reforms were agreed on or implemented, the HRW said.
Sexual and gender-based violence remained widespread, and women and girls had little recourse to seek protection or access justice. Women played a pivotal role in the 2024 uprising but were not adequately represented in the interim government.
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In April, the commission formed by the interim government to propose measures to protect women’s and girls’ rights recommended steps including criminalising marital rape; providing equal parental rights for women; reforming inheritance laws; and increasing women’s parliamentary representation. Soon after, nearly 20,000 supporters of the Islamist organisation Hefazat-e-Islam rallied in the capital, Dhaka, to protest the proposed reforms, among other issues, the HRW said. However, the report does not mention that leaders of Jamaat and NCP also protested the commission report.
More than 100,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since early 2024, fleeing fighting and abuses by the Myanmar military and Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group. Bangladesh authorities continued to advocate in 2025 for the repatriation of over 1 million Rohingya refugees, although conditions for safe, voluntary, and dignified returns to Myanmar did not exist. Bangladesh held a stakeholders’ dialogue in Cox’s Bazar in August ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level Conference on the Rohingya in September. In March 2025, Yunus promised to ensure their repatriation within a year, but the reality is just the opposite.
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On July 26 and 27, a mob damaged at least 14 homes belonging to members of the Hindu minority in Rangpur district. The year also saw reports of continuing violations against minority communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Rape was among the crimes committed in the targeting of minority communities, the HRW said, ignoring the statistics of the rights groups on communal attacks.
The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP) documented 522 incidents of communal attacks on the minorities, drawn from newspaper reports.
The incidents include 66 murders, 28 cases of rape, gang rape, and harassment of women, 95 incidents involving assaults, idol vandalism, looting, and arson, 21 attempts or successful occupations of temple lands, 102 cases of assaults, vandalism, looting, and arson, 38 incidents of kidnappings, extortion, and torture, 36 arrests and persecution under blasphemy allegations, and 66 incidents of forced evictions and property seizures.
Inflation declined during the interim government but remained at elevated levels, contributing to intense cost-of-living pressure for those with low incomes, the HRW said. According to the World Bank, economic growth was expected to slow in 2025, “leading to a rise in extreme poverty to 9.3% and pushing an additional 3 million people into poverty.”
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In May, the government ordered a “temporary” ban on the Awami League, using newly introduced powers under an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act, the HRW said. The ban includes, among other prohibitions, meetings, publications, and online speech supporting the party.
There were numerous attacks on journalists in 2025, often by non-state actors such as political party members and violent mobs. The police and courts also pursued cases under the Code of Criminal Procedure against writers accused by members of the public of “hurting religious sentiment.”
The HRW added that the Cyber Security Act (CSA) enables impermissible restrictions on freedom of expression, including for “hurting religious sentiment,” and grants wide authority to officials to criminalise and jail political critics. In March, the interim government amended the CSA to remove nine sections that had been abused under the Awami League government. However, the amendment left in place provisions that failed to fully comply with international human rights standards.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and advocates have reported increased threats of violence and hate speech, including by politicians. There are no legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the HRW said.
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