Bangladesh: End continuous harassment and reprisals against human rights organisation Odhikar

The government must urgently take the necessary steps towards creating an enabling environment for civil society and human rights defenders to work without fear of reprisals, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA). [...] Eight years after the initial application, on 5 June 2022, the NGOAB refused to renew Odhikar’s registration for multiple reasons, including the publication of ‘misleading information’ about extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances which have ‘seriously tarnished the image of the state to the world’. [...] However, instead of dropping the case, the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal indicted them under sections 57 (1) and (2) of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 for publishing ‘fake, distorted and defamatory’ information. [...] Despite international criticism and scrutiny, Bangladesh continues to intensify its crackdown on civil society organisations and human rights defenders, and stifle the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, with impunity. [...] FORUM-ASIA strongly reiterates its calls on the government to immediately cease the criminalisation of human rights work and the continuous affronts to the fundamental freedoms of association and expression.