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Human rights in Bangladesh are enshrined asfundamental rights in Part III of theConstitution of Bangladesh. However, constitutional and legal experts believe many of the country's laws require reform to enforcefundamental rights and reflectdemocratic values of the 21st century.
During the period from 2009 to 2023 under the rule of theAwami League-led regime, 2,699 people were victims ofextrajudicial killings inBangladesh.[1] During the same time frame, 677 people wereforcibly disappeared, and 1,048 people died in custody.[1] These statistics were revealed by thehuman rights organizationOdhikar. Additionally, the organization claims that if the deaths from theanti-discrimination student protests and incidents from 2024 are included, the total death toll would exceed 3,000.[1]
In 2024,Freedom House rated Bangladesh's human rights at 40 out 100 (partly free).[2]
Reforms were proposed in 2017 and included strengtheningparliamentary supremacy,judicial independence, theseparation of powers, repealing laws which restrainfreedom of the press and disbanding security agencies which violate civil liberties.[3][4][5][6]
Even though Bangladesh hasIslam as itsstate religion and has constitutional references toHindus,Christians andBuddhists; the political system is modeled as asecular democracy. Governments have generally respectedfreedom of religion,[7] a cornerstone of the Bangladeshi constitution. However, the police have been slow in responding to and investigating attacks against minorities, opposition activists & supporters and purportedly suppress protests against the government. According to Human Right Watch, around five hundred people have been disappeared since last ten years. In southeastern Bangladesh, theChittagong Hill Tracts remains a militarized region due to a historical insurgency. Tribal people in Bangladesh have demanded constitutional recognition.[8]
According to Dr. Mizanur Rahman, the former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, 70% of allegations of human rights violations are against law enforcement agencies (2015).[9]Torture andenforced disappearances are rampantly employed by Bangladeshi security forces. In recent years,free speech and media freedom have been repressed by the government through laws regulating newspapers, TV channels and the internet. Elected MPs in parliament lack voting freedoms. The future ofelections is a concern among the population, with opposition parties alleging free and fair elections are not possible under the incumbent government. Local government elections in 2015 were marred by widespread allegations ofvote rigging.[10] Bangladesh continues to make strides in its pursuit of labor rights, although the journey is still ongoing. The presence of active trade unions, a decline in the number of child laborers, and the establishment of labor courts and foundations exemplify the remarkable progress Bangladesh has made in safeguarding labor rights.[11]
Capital punishment remains legal in Bangladesh.Worker's rights are effected by a ban on trade unions in special economic zones. The government has often targeted trade union leaders with persecution.[12] The right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice and practise their own religion, and to use their own language in both private and publics spheres (Article 2 (1)).[13]
Non-Bengali minorities are often culturally and politically discriminated in the country. Article 23A of the constitution goes on to describe minorities as "tribes" and "minor races",[14] notably theChakmas,Biharis,Garos,Santhals,Marmas,Manipuris,Tripuris,Tanchangyas,Bawms. Article 6 of the constitution, which proclaims "the people of Bangladesh shall be known asBangalees as a nation",[15] was criticized for discrimination against the country's significant non-Bengali population. Chakma politicianManabendra Narayan Larma addressed it during proceedings of the constituent assembly of Bangladesh in 1972, famously proclaimed that "Under no definition or logic can a Chakma be a Bengali or a Bengali be a Chakma....As citizens of Bangladesh, we are allBangladeshis, but we also have a separate ethnic identity, which unfortunately the Awami League leaders do not want to understand".[16][17][18]
The substantialBihari population also complain of discrimination. In 2008, the Dhaka High Court granted citizenship to the stateless Stranded Pakistani community.[19]
Bangladesh has been criticized for the poor living conditions in which overRohingya refugees fromMyanmar are kept in the country's southeast. There was international outcry after the army and government planned to relocate refugee camps to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal.[20] There were an estimated 22,000 registered refugees and over 100,000 unregistered refugees until 2016. Following the 2016-present Rakhine State crackdown, 1.5 million refugees entered Bangladesh from Myanmar.[21]
Bangladesh has not signed the 1951Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
List of massacres targeted at religious minorities, mainly by radical Islamists:
Different denominational minority Muslim groups are often targeted by the dominantSunnis for sectarian violence, such asAhmadiyya andShia community of the country. In 2004, theGovernment of Bangladesh banned all religious texts of theAhmadiyya community.[22] In 2015, aShi'iteAshura gathering was bombed.[23]
The constitution's proclamation of aPeople's republic andsocialism in its preamble[24] and Article 10[25] are at odds with Bangladesh's currentfree market economy system, entrepreneurial class, diverse corporate sector and owners of private property. Six general elections were won by pro-market political parties, while four elections were won by left-wing parties.
Bangladesh ranked 128th out of 178 countries in the 2017Index of Economic Freedom.[26]
In spite of Article 38[27] calling for freedom of association, trade union leaders from thetextile industry often face arbitrary arrests and politically motivated lawsuits.[12] Forming trade unions is banned inexport processing zones (EPZs), but the government has pledged to remove the ban.[28]
Forced labor is prohibited under Article 34.[29]Child labour is common in the country, with 4.7 million children aged from 5 to 14 years old in the work force.[30] 93% of child labourers are employed in the informal sector such as small factories and workshops, on the street, in home-based businesses and domestic employment.[31] In 2006,Bangladesh passed a Labor Law setting the minimum legal age for employment as 14.[32]
Free speech is enshrined under Article 39.[33] During the 1990s and first decade and a half of the 21st century, the Bangladeshi media enjoyed more freedom than at any other time in history. However, since the 2014 election in which the incumbent Awami League won a boycotted election, the freedom of the press has dramatically declined. The ruling party has targeted the country's two leading newspapersThe Daily Star andProthom Alo with numerous lawsuits and has encouraged businesses to stop advertising in them. Pro-opposition journalistsMahmudur Rahman andShafik Rehman were detained for prolonged periods.Nurul Kabir, editor of theNew Age, has faced threats to his life.[34]Mahfuz Anam, editor ofThe Daily Star, has faced 83 lawsuits since 2016.[35]Reporters without Borders ranked Bangladesh at 146th out of 180 countries in its index ofpress freedom.[36]
According toAmnesty International, independent media outlets and journalists have come under severe pressure by the government. Several journalists faced arbitrary criminal charges, often for publishing criticism of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her family or the Awami League Government. Journalists reported increased threats from governmental officials or security agencies. The government continued to use a range of repressive laws to restrict the right to freedom of expression extensively. It increasingly used the Information and Communications Technology Act which arbitrarily restricted online expression. The human rights organizationOdhikar reported increased arrests under the Act. Journalists, activists, and others were targeted. Dilip Roy, a student activist, was detained for criticizing the Prime Minister on Facebook, but later released on bail. Parliament adopted the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act which significantly increased government control over the work of NGOs and threatened them with deregistration for making "inimical" or "derogatory" remarks against the Constitution or constitutional bodies. Several other bills that threatened freedom of expression were proposed in parliament, including the Digital Security Act and the Liberation War Denial Crimes Act.[37]
The government has also been slow to investigateattacks on secularists in Bangladesh.
On 20 June 2020, a 15-year-old child was arrested by Bangladeshi authority for criticizing Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina Wazed in a Facebook post. The child was arrested underDigital Security Act. He was sent to a juvenile detention center.Human Rights Watch urged the Bangladeshi government to order their police force not to arrest people for criticizing the government and release all children held in juvenile detention facilities and prisons for petty crimes.[38]According toHuman Rights Watch, Bangladeshi authorities are perpetually detaining journalist, activist and government's critics under misuse of Digital Security Act. People are being detained for posting social media comments against the ruling party.HRW urged the authority to release detainees who were held underDSA for criticizing the government.[39]
On February 13, 2025, noted poet, essayist, academic, literary editor and cultural activistSohel Hasan Galib was arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiments on social media and in his poetry book.[40]Pen Bangladesh condemned the arrest of the poet, saying that "opinions and ideas can only be countered by opinions and ideas, and not by stifling thought."[41]
Article 11 proclaims that "the Republic shall be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and freedoms and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be guaranteed".[42] In 2017, the police asked the prime minister to scrap the anti-torture law.[43]
Although there is general freedom of assembly[27] in Bangladesh, the political opposition is often restricted from holding public meetings and rallies by the government.
On 3 January 2019, Human Rights Watch called for an investigation on attack on members of the opposition party on and before Bangladesh elections.[44]
According toThe Digital Police State,[45] a 2025 investigative report by the Tech Global Institute, Bangladesh’s surveillance framework has evolved from colonial-era policing and post-independence military intelligence practices into a highly digitalized system of interception and monitoring.
The report traces this evolution from physical surveillance toward cyber-enabled interception, metadata analysis, remote eavesdropping, and content filtering, accelerated under the justification of counterterrorism.
The investigation finds that between 2015 and 2025 at least 160 surveillance and spyware systems were imported into or deployed in Bangladesh through opaque procurement processes and intermediary countries. These include IMSI catchers, Wi-Fi interceptors, and commercial spyware such as Pegasus, FinFisher, and Predator. The report identifies suppliers or intermediaries in France, Germany, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as Israeli-origin technologies reportedly routed through Cyprus, Singapore, and Hungary to bypass trade restrictions.
The Tech Global Institute estimates that Bangladesh spent nearly US $190 million on surveillance and spyware between 2015 and 2025, with theNational Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC) accounting for more than US $100 million of that amount. According to the report, NTMC procured deep-packet-inspection and decryption platforms for internet interception, while the Information and Communication Technology Division’s BGD e-GOV CIRT invested in social-media and web-content monitoring tools. Spending reportedly peaked before national elections in 2018 and 2024, suggesting links between surveillance procurement and electoral cycles.
The report further describes how surveillance operates within a fragmented legal and institutional environment marked by limited transparency and accountability. It identifies a network of intelligence and law-enforcement bodies empowered through non-public executive orders, operating largely without explicit statutory authorization or independent oversight. The legal framework grants broad, discretionary powers that have produced de facto impunity and institutional invisibility for those carrying out surveillance and their collaborators, allowing such actors to operate without public disclosure, judicial scrutiny, or administrative sanction. Bangladesh has no specialized parliamentary committee overseeing intelligence agencies, and judicial review of surveillance practices remains limited.
While elements of these findings have been noted by earlier media and civil-society research, the Tech Global Institute study provides one of the first systematic mappings of Bangladesh’s surveillance procurement, legal frameworks, and governance structures. It concludes that without reforms to ensure transparency, parliamentary scrutiny, and compliance with international human-rights standards, Bangladesh risks further consolidating a form of “digital authoritarianism”.
In November 2025, the government introduced theBangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, which proposes significant reforms, some in line with international human rights standards on surveillance.
In 2011, the Awami League-led parliament abolished thecaretaker government of Bangladesh, which was intended to act as a neutral guarantor during general elections. The opposition,Bangladesh Nationalist Party maintains that free and fair elections are not possible under the incumbent Awami League government, particularly after the League amended the constitution to have a sitting parliament while elections take place, in contradiction ofWestminster norms.[46]
In 2015, local government elections were marred by allegations of vote rigging and intimidation of voters and the media.[28] Opposition parties have demanded a neutral interim government during the election period. In response, the government has proposed to restrict its political activities while organizing and holding elections.[47]
Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh is described as one of the most significant constraints on Bangladesh's democracy. The article restrictsfree votes in parliament. This meansMPs have no voting freedom. According to the article, MPs will lose their seats if they vote against their party. Critics have argued the article tramples free speech in parliament itself.[48] As a result, parliament has been termed arubber stamp and alame duck.
Part IXA of the constitution concerns astate of emergency. Emergency powers were increased in the second amendment.[49] Three emergency periods have been declared in Bangladesh's history, including in 1973, 1990 and 2007. Article 141 (B) and Article 141 (C) allows for the suspension of fundamental rights during an emergency period.[50][51] The articles have been strongly criticized. In January 2007, when the2006-2008 Bangladeshi political crisis saw a declaration of emergency rule, theNew Age stated in an editorial "...by declaring a state of emergency to undo his mistakes, it is once again the people that the president is hurting by suspending their fundamental democratic rights. The citizens are not at fault for the existing political situation and therefore should not be punished for the failures of the caretaker government and the political parties. The president, therefore, should immediately restore the fundamental rights of the citizens."[52]
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Article 32 of the Constitution proclaims "no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty save in accordance with law".[53] In reality, Bangladesh has a number ofextrajudicial killings andenforced disappearances each year. TheRapid Action Battalion is accused of being the leading perpetrator of such human rights abuses, followed by theBangladesh Police, theDirectorate General of Forces Intelligence andNational Security Intelligence.
Capital punishment remains legal inBangladesh.[54] There were four executions in the country in 2022, and four in 2021.[55] It can theoretically be applied to anyone over the age of 16, but in practice is not applied to those under 18.[55]
The death penalty may be used as a punishment for crimes such as murder,sedition, offences related to possession of or trafficking in drugs, offences related to trafficking in human beings,treason,espionage, military crimes,rape, hijacking planes,sabotage, orterrorism.[56] It is carried out by hanging and firing squad; authorities usually use only hanging.[55]
Bangladesh is not a state party to theSecond Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on abolishing the death penalty.
Bangladesh's former Law MinisterAnisul Huq proposed a law on behalf of the government under which the highest form of punishment would be imposed on those accused of rape. The decision followed public outrage over the video of a woman circulated online showing a group of men sexually assaulting her. It was later found that the girl was also repeatedly gang raped by the same men.[57]
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The United Nations country team in Bangladesh has identified "marital instability" as the key cause of poverty and "ultra and extreme" poverty among female-headed households. The Bangladesh Planning Commission has said that women are more susceptible to becoming poor after losing a male earning family member due toabandonment or divorce.[58] Women in Bangladesh are especially vulnerable to a form ofdomestic violence known asacid throwing, in which concentrated acid is thrown onto an individual (usually at the face) with the aims of extreme disfiguration andsocial isolation. In Bangladesh, women are discriminately targeted: according to one study, from 1999 to 2009, 68% ofacid attack survivors were women/girls.[59]
In 2010, a law against domestic violence was introduced, which defines causing "economic loss" as an act of domestic violence and recognises the right to live in the marital home. The law also empowers courts to provide temporary maintenance to survivors of domestic violence. In 2012, the Law Commission of Bangladesh, supported by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, completed nationwide research into reforms for Muslim, Hindu, and Christian personal laws. In May 2012, the cabinet approved a bill for optional registration of Hindu marriages. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is also considering reforms to civil court procedures—especially on issuance of summons that will improve family court efficiency.[60]
Bangladesh has a high rate of early marriages. The government had vowed to end marriage of children younger than 15 by 2021. But in February 2017, a law was passed that permits girls less than 18 years of age to marry under "special circumstances," such as "accidental" or "illegal pregnancy," with permission from their parents and court.[61]
In 2014, the Bangladeshi government officially recognizedhijras as athird gender.[62]
The British Raj-era Penal Code remains in force in Bangladesh. Section 377 of the Code criminalizes homosexuality. In 2016, Terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the murder of Bangladesh's first LGBTQ magazine editorXulhaz Mannan and his partner Tanay Majumdar.[63]
In 2017, Bangladesh scored a 28 out of 100 (0 being highly corrupt and 100 being clean), in the "Corruption Perceptions Index" by Transparency International, and ranked the 143rd most corrupt out of 180 nations. In 2016, they scored 16, and in 2015 they scored a 25.[64]
In 2018, corruption can be found in hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies in the form of bribery. In 2018 alone, it is estimated that 10,688 TK has been treated through bribery. Over 66% of homes claimed to be victims of corruption in the service industries. Corruption is alsofound in law enforcement, where over 72% of homes claimed to be victims of corruption in regards to law enforcement. Those who fell victim to corruption found that the most commonly corrupt officials were in law enforcement and passport offices, needing bribes in order to have your claims processed. In addition to bribery, corruption also exists in the forms of lobbying, in the gas industry, in education, water supply, electricity industries, and in many other major industries. Bribery is an underlying theme, linking the problems together.[65]
Slave labor is also quite common in Bangladesh, with over 1.5 million people being forced into labor, directly breaking the prohibition on forced labor. 85% of the slaves are male, and 15% are female, making Bangladesh rank 4th in terms of slave count in the world, only being topped by India, China and Pakistan. Most men work in labor industries like farming or construction,[66] while many women and young girls are enslaved in brothels. Linking back in to bribery, brothel owners have been found to bribe the police to convince them that the children are at least 18, the legal age to work as a sex worker in Bangladesh. These women and girls make very little money, as the brothel owners keep most of the profits.[67] More than a quarter of sex workers in Bangladesh entered the field as a result of being sold or forced into bondage.[68]
Human Rights Watch reported that Bangladesh’s interim administration, has made limited progress on its human rights agenda.[69] While incidents ofenforced disappearances and widespread fear have declined since the previous regime, concerns persist over arbitrary detentions, politically motivated actions, and the lack of systemic reform. Theinterim government continues to face pressure from international bodies and civil society to address past abuses, ensure accountability, and implement long-overdue legal reforms to protect fundamental rights and democratic governance.[70]
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Chancery Law Chronicles- First Bangladesh Online Case Law Database *Chancery Law Chronicles - Online Database of Bangladesh Laws
