The United Nations rights body has expressed its concerns against the continued harassment and detention of human rights defenders in Bangladesh, including Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus and leaders of prominent rights organization Odhikar.
The Hasina government has been accused of targeting rights activists and political opponents, with security forces accused of carrying out hundreds of extrajudicial killings since Hasina came to power in 2008.
The US slapped sanctions on the elite paramilitary force, the Rapid Action Battalion, in December 2021 over its alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings.
In an open letter last month, global leaders, including former US President Barack Obama, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and more than 100 Nobel laureates, said they were deeply concerned by recent threats to democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.
Read more here.
