The Coalition for Human Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh (CHRD Bangladesh) strongly condemns the cancellation of the operating license of Odhikar, a leading human rights organization in Bangladesh.
On June 6, 2022, the administration of Sheikh Hasina canceled the license of Odhikar, an NGO fighting for human rights in Bangladesh. It is another abominable manifestation of fascism of the government, one which is termed illegal because of its fraudulent hold on power since January of 2009.
The reports by Odhikar and other rights agencies largely convinced the United States in December 2021 to impose sanctions on the draconian Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and some its top former and current officials for committing thousands of serious human rights violations that included extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and illegal detentions in Bangladesh.
Hit by the sanctions, the autocratic regime retaliated by denying Odhikar’s operation. In the order, the Prime Minister’s Office cited that the organization published “misleading information about various extrajudicial killings, including alleged disappearances and murders…which had seriously tarnished the image of the state.” The reality was that the Odhikar reported the truth and touched only the tip of an iceberg.
Odhikar was established in 1994 by a few human rights activists, lawyers and academics. It has been fighting for the protection of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of Bangladeshi people. It has worked closely with the United Nations and other regional and international rights organizations and recorded thousands of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances perpetrated by the elite and immunized RAB and police.
In 2013, Odhikar’s Secretary Adilur Rahman and Director Nasiruddin Elan were arrested for reporting the death of dozens of Hefazat-e-Islam (an Islamic advocacy group of madrasahs and teachers) members by security forces. Government forces brutally attacked Hefazat’s peaceful gathering at central Dhaka’s Sapla Chattar on May 5-6, 2013. They were released on court orders after suffering months in jail. In addition, Odhika faced numerous reprisals by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and routinely subjected to government-sponsored smear campaigns in the media.
In 2014, Odhikar applied for a 10-year license but was kept on hold and the organization operated in limbo. The June 6 order came when it sought a court decision.
“Odhikar has been facing persecution for years and the arbitrary cancellation of its registration is the latest attempt to silence it” said Adilur Rahman Khan. Rights activists Nur Khan condemned the decision, calling it “a reflection of the government’s autocratic policy.” Saad Hammadi of Amnesty International put it in correct perspective when he said, “It is absurd that the Bangladeshi authorities withheld the registration of the human rights group for eight years and then canceled it because of the global ire they faced for a poor human rights record.”
CHRD Bangladesh urges the Bangladesh authorities to immediately grant operations of Odhikar so that it can restore its humanitarian services to the people of Bangladesh.
CHRD Bangladesh also requests the US government to exert its influence on the Bangladesh government to desist from anti-right activities in the country, which is suffering for more than a decade under the “illegal”, unelected and dictatorial regime of Sheikh Hasina.