GENEVA, Switzerland (13 March 2025) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) condemns the judicial harassment and excessive use of force committed by Bangladeshi authorities against peaceful protestors–demanding justice for survivors of gender-based violence–in a rally staged in Dhaka on 11 March 2025.
The deliberate targeting of student human rights defenders (HRDs)–including women human rights defenders (WHRDs)–illustrates Bangladesh’s persistent criminalization of dissent, further shrinking an already-repressed civic space.
Such actions reflect the interim government’s troubling continuation of repressive tactics characteristic of former regimes.
“FORUM-ASIA demands Bangladeshi authorities to immediately drop all charges against the student human rights defenders and unnamed protestors, prioritizing their safety and protection from further harassment. Instead of violently cracking down on dissent, Bangladesh must uphold people’s freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, executive director of FORUM-ASIA.
What happened
On 11 March 2025, students peacefully marched from Shahbagh area toward the Chief Advisor’s residence in the capital Dhaka under the banner “Bangladesh Against Rape and Abuse.” The peaceful protest was partly triggered by widespread public outrage following the reported rape of an eight-year-old girl, a case emblematic of the widespread violence against women and girls in Bangladesh.
Protestors demanded urgent state action as well as the resignation of the Home Affairs Advisor for the failure to respond to such violence.
The peaceful demonstration was violently intercepted by police when protestors attempted to bypass a barricade, resulting in clashes and injuries on both sides. Police allege that protestors initiated the violence; however, protestors and eyewitness accounts indicated that authorities escalated tensions by employing disproportionate force, leading to avoidable injuries.
Authorities subsequently escalated the situation by filing a First Information Report (FIR) against 12 prominent student HRDs—including three WHRDs—from the Bangladesh Students Union, Student Federation, and Student Front, and 70 to 80 unnamed protestors. The FIR accuses the students of unlawful assembly, rioting, obstruction of public servants, and assault.
Several named defenders have also highlighted how they were falsely implicated despite not even being present at the protest site at the time of the incident. The authorities, however, have maintained the charges, thereby placing the student defenders at immediate and serious risk of arbitrary arrest, harassment, and prolonged persecution.
Such actions severely violate Bangladesh’s obligations to protect fundamental freedoms under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a state party. These also contradict the interim government’s promises of democratic reform, transparency, and accountability, thus undermining the legitimacy of state institutions and further eroding public trust.
The excessive police response to student protests has become increasingly common under the interim government. In January 2025, peaceful demonstrators advocating for the rights of indigenous communities were violently dispersed with batons, water cannons, and sound grenades, injuring over 20 individuals. By specifically targeting the very student voices that facilitated its rise to power after the 2024 July-August protests, the interim government now risks reversing the country’s hard-won democratic gains and deepening the erosion of civic freedoms.
Call to Action
Aside from dropping all charges against the peaceful protestors, the interim government should also immediately undertake comprehensive actions to combat gender-based violence. This includes establishing robust and survivor-centred judicial processes, accountability mechanisms, and specific protections for survivors and women human rights defenders.
Furthermore, authorities must ensure that the police do not use excessive force against individuals who are merely practicing their right to peaceful protest.
“This violent suppression of peaceful protestors demanding accountability for sexual violence underscores Bangladesh’s deeply entrenched culture of impunity and repression against civic activism,” stressed Bacalso.
“The interim government’s failure to break away from these repressive practices undermines its legitimacy and betrays the student-led mass movement that brought it to power,” Bacalso added.
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The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a network of 89 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia. Founded in 1991, FORUM-ASIA works to strengthen movements for human rights and sustainable development through research, advocacy, capacity development and solidarity actions in Asia and beyond. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and consultative relationship with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The FORUM-ASIA Secretariat is based in Bangkok, with offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu. www.forum-asia.org
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- Communications and Media Programme, FORUM-ASIA, communication@forum-asia.org
This post was originally published on FORUM-ASIA.