Between July 26-28, 2024, Dhaka police reportedly detained six student activists in connection with their nonviolent exercise of the right to free expression and assembly.
The detentions occurred against the backdrop of nationwide, student-led protests opposing a Bangladesh court’s reinstatement of a quota system – which had previously been abolished in 2018 – allocating government jobs to certain favored groups, including allotting 30% of government positions to people who had fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan and their family members. The protests were largely peaceful until mid-July, when students allied with the ruling government reportedly attacked anti-quota protesters in Dhaka. The violence spread to other campuses and cities throughout Bangladesh, leading to several hundred deaths, thousands of injuries, and more than 10,000 reported arrests. Bangladesh’s Supreme Court did eventually modify the decision reinstating the quota system, substantially reducing the number of positions allocated to favored groups. However, the decision did not quell the protests. Ultimately, the protests led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation on August 5, 2024, and the installation of an interim government (see report).
Between July 26 and 28, Dhaka police reportedly detained Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Majumder, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum, activists associated with the Students Against Discrimination Movement, which organized the initial protests. During the students’ detention, police officials acknowledged that they had not been charged with a crime, indicating that they would be released when they were deemed no longer to be a threat. Prior to their release, the student activists appeared in a video message announcing the withdrawal of the protests; immediately following their release, the students announced that the statement had been coerced.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the detention without charge and coerced confessions of student activists, to retaliate for or prevent the nonviolent exercise of the right to free expression and assembly. State authorities must refrain from actions intended to punish, restrict, or deter the exercise of these rights. Such actions violate fundamental human rights and undermine democracy generally.
Sources:
https://x.com/MaryLawlorhrds/status/1817967873102594272
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/soft-spoken-sociology-student-led-campaign-oust-bangladeshs-hasina-2024-08-06/
https://www.thedailystar.net/bangladesh/news/we-were-kept-db-custody-be-isolated-the-movement-6-organisers-released-yesterday-3667896
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/after-violent-protests-student-leaders-in-police-custody-end-protest-movement-in-bangladesh/3287932
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/six-human-rights-defenders-quota-reform-movement-released-after-being-coerced-announce-0
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/nahid-islam
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/abu-bakar-majumder
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/asif-mahmud
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/sarjis-alam
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/hasnat-abdullah
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/nusrat-tabassum