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International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Bangladesh government to stop keeping political activists and others linked to the ousted Awami League government in prolonged pretrial detention without trial.
In a report released Monday (August 24), the organisation urged the government to take immediate steps to address the issue.
The report said police had arrested thousands of Awami League leaders, activists and supporters following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024. Hundreds of them are still in jail without specific charges, it said.
HRW acknowledged that some officials may have been involved in serious human rights violations during the Sheikh Hasina government. However, it said many people had been arrested over allegations of killing protesters despite a lack of clear evidence against them.
Family members and lawyers of detainees alleged that many of those held are elderly, while some suffer from serious illnesses. Despite this, they have been denied basic rights, including bail and necessary medical treatment, according to the report.
According to HRW, at least 10 Awami League leaders and activists have died in custody since Prime Minister Tarique Rahman took office in February 2026. The organisation claimed that most of them had not faced specific criminal allegations.
Elaine Pearson, HRW’s Asia director, said successive governments had kept hundreds of political opponents behind bars without evidence or due legal process.
“Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s government has promised reforms. As a first step, it should end the prolonged detention of political opponents,” she said.
HRW also said the government had initiated efforts to enact a new National Human Rights Commission law instead of pursuing broader reforms. Under the current draft, however, the new commission would not be able to investigate allegations of unlawful or arbitrary arrests, the organisation said.
Those detained without charges include former Awami League lawmakers, former legislators who supported Sheikh Hasina’s government, activists, officials and journalists, according to HRW.
The organisation also noted allegations of serious crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances, against some members of the security forces. Some also face corruption allegations.
HRW said prosecutors had repeatedly sought to block bail even in cases where no evidence had been presented. Lower and district courts had regularly rejected bail applications, while some people were allegedly kept in jail through new cases even after the High Court granted them bail.
International human rights law allows pretrial detention in specific circumstances and conditional release, but detention before trial should be an exceptional measure rather than the norm, HRW said. The need for detention should be assessed separately in each case.
The organisation said authorities must respect detainees’ right to liberty, the presumption of innocence and equality before the law.
HRW called on judges and relevant authorities to review each detainee’s case individually, determine whether continued detention is lawful and necessary, and promptly begin trials or release those whose detention cannot be justified.
Pearson said a justice system in which elderly people die in custody without even facing judicial charges was failing to treat pretrial detention as an exceptional measure.
She urged the Bangladesh government to order independent investigations into all deaths in custody during its tenure and end the prolonged and arbitrary detention of people without charges.
