{"id":3894,"date":"2025-10-04T18:20:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T12:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=3894"},"modified":"2025-10-06T23:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T17:13:05","slug":"6-uk-mps-raise-alarm-over-deteriorating-human-rights-under-yunus-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=3894","title":{"rendered":"6 UK MPs raise alarm over deteriorating human rights under Yunus regime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five members of the House of Commons and one member of the House of Lords have written to the UK government and voiced serious concerns over the worsening human rights situation in Bangladesh under the interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their letter<\/a>, the parliamentarians highlighted several urgent issues: systemic failures in the justice system, denial of bail, politically motivated detentions, the exclusion of certain parties from the upcoming elections, and rising violence, including targeted attacks against minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A copy of the letter was sent to, and published by, The Times on October 4, in their \u201cLetters to the Editor\u201d section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signatories of the letter are Bob Blackman, Jas Athwal, Neil Coyle, Gurinder Singh Josan, Luke Akehurst, Carmen Smith and Steven Powles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK MPs alarmed over Bangladesh\u2019s democratic decline, human rights crisis<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tulip Siddiq asks Yunus to stop orchestrated campaign, interfering in UK politics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GCDG identifies bias, methodological flaws in OHCHR report on Bangladesh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MPs urged the British government, particularly the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as well as the UN and the wider international community, to press the interim government to meet its obligations under international human rights law, including ensuring access to justice, protecting civil liberties, and ending impunity.<\/p>\n\n\n

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They also called for a \u201cclear and time-bound pathway\u201d towards peaceful elections and the restoration of a stable civilian govt, which they stressed is \u201cessential for rebuilding trust and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, a high-profile parliamentary event hosted at the UK House of Commons raised serious concerns over the erosion of democratic norms and human rights in Bangladesh under Yunus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, held on July 15 and co-hosted by Bob Blackman MP and the Bangladesh Unity Forum, featured legal and political experts who addressed the consequences of interrupted governance and a deepening constitutional crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaired by Bob Blackman MP (Harrow East), the panel included former SNP MP Martyn Day, Barrister S.M. Rezaul Karim, and leading human rights lawyer Steven Powles KC. Speakers highlighted the alarming rise in politically and religiously motivated violence, the manipulation of judicial institutions, and the weaponisation of anti-terrorism laws to dismantle political opposition, particularly the controversial banning of the Awami League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh Rights Abuses: JMBF president meets OHCHR reps in Geneva<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JMBF: 70 killed in 60 incidents of extrajudicial killings, custodial deaths<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key point of concern was the Article 15 communication recently submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC), detailing a pattern of arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, incitement of mob violence, and blanket impunity granted to perpetrators. The speakers emphasised that the interim government has failed to prosecute those responsible for attacks on religious minorities, journalists, lawyers, and political opponents, many of whom are linked to the former government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judiciary in Bangladesh was described as compromised, with senior judges and pro-opposition lawyers being removed or silenced. The session criticised the government\u2019s control over the International Crimes Tribunal, arguing that it is being used as a political tool rather than a forum for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly contentious was the use of Bangladesh\u2019s Anti-Terrorism Act to outlaw the Awami League in May 2025\u2014an act described as an unprecedented assault on participatory democracy. The move disenfranchises millions of citizens and violates Articles 57, 58, and 59 of the Constitution, which mandate inclusive elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a tentative election date has been floated for February 2026, there is widespread scepticism about its credibility. The UK event also revealed that separate communication is being submitted to several UN Special Rapporteurs, challenging the political party ban and urging global intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speakers warned that any election held under the current unconstitutional framework\u2014without Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s formal resignation\u2014would lack legal legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event concluded with a resounding call for the international community to demand that Dr. Yunus hold free, fair, and inclusive elections, overseen by a neutral Election Commission, and to immediately end the abuse of legal instruments against political opponents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five members of the House of Commons and one member of the House of Lords have written to the UK government and voiced serious concerns over the worsening human rights… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,123,20,42,147],"tags":[77,46,50,71,54,65,56,63,64],"class_list":["post-3894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-ict-bd","category-news","category-politics","category-world","tag-awami-league","tag-bnp","tag-interim-government","tag-islami-chhatra-shibir","tag-jamaat-e-islami","tag-mobocracy","tag-muhammad-yunus","tag-sheikh-hasina","tag-yunus-gang"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3894"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3931,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3894\/revisions\/3931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}