Gang close to Bangladesh PM extracts bribes for state contracts
By Al Jazeera Investigative UnitPublished On 1 Feb 2021 A criminal gang is colluding with Bangladesh’s security forces to extract bribes for state contracts and job positions, all the while maintaining powerful links with the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, an Al Jazeera investigation has found. All the Prime Minister’s Men reveals how Haris and […]
How Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act Is Creating a Culture of Fear
Dhaka’s abstention in Ukraine vote is an anomaly The Bangladeshi government has used a vaguely worded law on digital security to crack down on its critics and dispel online dissent. Author and social activist Mushtaq Ahmed died in a Bangladeshi jail on February 25, 2021, after being detained and allegedly tortured for social media posts critical of the government. […]
US Treasury Sanctions Perpetrators of Serious Human Rights Abuse
US Treasury Sanctions Perpetrators of Serious Human Rights Abuse WASHINGTON — Today (December 10, 2021), on International Human Rights Day, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating 15 individuals and 10 entities for their connection to human rights abuse and repression in several countries around the globe, pursuant […]
US Treasury Sanctions Perpetrators of Serious Human Rights Abuse on International Human Rights Day
US Treasury Sanctions Perpetrators of Serious Human Rights Abuse on International Human Rights Day Designations target those connected to human rights abuse, including technology-enabled abuse WASHINGTON — Today, on International Human Rights Day, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating 15 individuals and 10 entities for their connection […]
Bangladesh: 86 Victims of Enforced Disappearance Still Missing
Bangladesh: 86 Victims of Enforced Disappearance Still Missing UN Should Ban Death Squad from Peacekeeping Missions (Geneva) – United Nations human rights experts should lead an independent international investigation into enforced disappearances by security forces in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Senior UN officials, donors, and trade partners should step up measures […]
Bangladesh’s COVID-19 stimulus: Leaving the most vulnerable behind
Bangladesh’s COVID-19 stimulus: Leaving the most vulnerable behind The Bangladeshi government’s $8 billion stimulus package, about 2.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), primarily focuses on industries, particularly export-oriented ones. In doing so, the package intended to contain and mitigate the economic fallout of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) left out the most vulnerable sections […]
POLITICAL HYPOCRISY KNOWS NO BOUNDS OR BORDERS
Just when I thought I had witnessed the ultimate in political hypocrisy at the end of Donald Trump’s historic and depressing impeachment trial, Sheikh Hasina – the prime minister of Bangladesh – has restored my faith that South Asian politicians can match any politician anywhere on the hypocrisy chart. And surely, on this hypocrisy chart, […]
Scars Of Torture All Over Him
Scars Of Torture All Over Him Cartoonist Kishore describes his ordeal to The Daily Star hours after getting out on bail “If you come close to me you will smell the pus.” This was the first statement by Ahmed Kabir Kishore to this correspondent. He was released from Kashimpur Central Jail-2, on bail, around 12:20pm […]
AL consolidated power through sustained harassment of opposition: Report
AL consolidated power through sustained harassment of opposition: Report The ruling Awami League (AL) has consolidated political power through sustained harassment of the opposition and those perceived to be allied with it, as well as of critical media and voices in civil society. Corruption is a serious problem, and anticorruption efforts have been weakened by […]
Anger in Bangladesh over dissident writer’s death in prison
Protests erupt over death of Mushtaq Ahmed, arrested last year on charges of violating the stringent Digital Security Act. There is widespread anger in Bangladesh over the death in prison of a dissident writer arrested last year under the Digital Security Act (DSA), which critics say stifles freedom of speech. Mushtaq Ahmed, 53, died on […]
