DHAKA — A new report by a leading human rights organization has painted a grim portrait of state violence in Bangladesh, revealing an alarming rise in extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths under the country’s interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
According to JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), at least 70 people have been killed in 60 separate incidents between July 2024 and July 2025. The report, released this week, accuses law enforcement agencies, paramilitary forces, and prison authorities of orchestrating a “pattern of systematic abuse” that has left activists, political opponents, and ordinary citizens caught in a widening web of repression.
The victims span the country’s political and social spectrum. Among them was an Awami League supporter in Gopalganj shot dead while participating in a peaceful protest, three indigenous residents of Khagrachhari killed by army personnel, and a young child in Barishal fatally wounded by a RAB officer’s gunfire. Two garment workers, including a female laborer, were killed during a wage demonstration in Dhaka, while six Awami League leaders died in jail custody after what the report describes as “severe torture” during police remand.
The report also highlights a disturbing trend inside Bangladesh’s overcrowded and poorly managed prisons, where medical neglect has become a silent killer. In Bogura alone, five Awami League leaders died after allegedly being denied urgent medical treatment, which JMBF suggests may be part of a broader strategy to eliminate political opponents. “These are not isolated incidents,” the rights group warns. “They reflect a system that has normalized torture, neglect, and targeted violence.”
While political violence has long been a part of Bangladesh’s volatile democracy, the JMBF findings suggest that abuses have escalated to unprecedented levels. More than half of the deaths occurred in direct encounters with law enforcement and security forces, while nearly half took place behind bars. Torture was identified as the leading cause of death, followed by gunfire and medical negligence.
Dhaka and Chittagong, the country’s two most politically and economically significant regions, have borne the brunt of the violence, together accounting for more than two-thirds of the incidents. Nearly half of the victims were affiliated with the Awami League, though the report notes that nonpartisan citizens, indigenous groups, and other vulnerable minorities have also been targeted.
The findings come at a time when Bangladesh is already under intense scrutiny from international human rights groups and foreign governments. Despite constitutional protections guaranteeing the right to life, protection from arbitrary detention, and freedom from torture, the interim government has embraced what critics describe as “emergency-style governance.” Arrests without charge have become common. Bail is frequently denied. And security forces, including the police, army, RAB, and joint forces, operate with near-total impunity.
Bangladesh’s domestic laws offer little protection. The Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act of 2013 criminalizes torture and grants families the right to seek justice, but the report says enforcement has been “sporadic, politically compromised, and ineffective.” Outdated prison regulations, coupled with overcrowding and systemic medical neglect, have contributed to what the JMBF calls “preventable deaths on a staggering scale.”
The situation also places Bangladesh in potential violation of its international treaty obligations. As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture, the government is bound to prevent extrajudicial killings, prohibit torture, and investigate allegations of abuse. Yet the report says these obligations have been routinely ignored. Compliance reports to the United Nations have not been filed, and families seeking justice face intimidation, harassment, and procedural roadblocks at every step.
“The Yunus administration has deepened a culture of impunity that already existed within Bangladesh’s law enforcement and justice systems,” the JMBF report concludes. “Extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths are no longer anomalies — they are becoming institutionalized.”
The government has not responded to the allegations. But human rights groups warn that without urgent reforms, Bangladesh risks further international isolation, growing political instability, and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
