In 2025, freedom of expression, association, and assembly remained unnecessarily restricted under the interim government, London-based Amnesty International said in its annual report.
The rights organisation also noted that individuals, including human rights defenders, faced arbitrary arrests and harassment for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
“The interim government’s ban on the Awami League political party brought into question their commitment to upholding freedom of association,” Amnesty said in its annual report, titled, "The State of the World’s Human Rights" covering 2025, published on April 21.
The interim government took office in August 2024 following the ousting of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League administration. After the February 12 polls, a BNP-led government assumed power.
Incidents of harassment, violence, and arrests targeting individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression -- including human rights defenders, journalists, authors, bloggers, and poets -- continued throughout 2025, the report said.
The Cyber Security Act of 2023, a law used by the former government against critics in ways that contravened the right to freedom of expression, continued to be used by the interim government to deter activism.
The Act was later repealed and replaced by the Cyber Security Ordinance, which took effect in May and was intended to remain in force until formal approval by a future parliament.
In August, the High Court dismissed a case filed in 2018 under the Information and Communication Technology Act against activist photographer Shahidul Alam.
On December 18, following the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of the July uprising, violent protests erupted. The offices of two media outlets -- The Daily Star and Prothom Alo -- were attacked and set on fire, the editor of the New Age newspaper was harassed, and cultural institution Chhayanaut was attacked.
“Oppressive restrictions continued to be imposed on the right to unionise, including excessive requirements for union registration, state interference in union activities, and arbitrary or unduly controlling registration processes,” the report said.
After forming a commission to investigate enforced disappearances and signing the International Convention Against Enforced Disappearance in 2024, the interim government sought to implement the convention through a new ordinance.
The draft ordinance was initially criticised for failing to align with international human rights standards, particularly regarding the death penalty. It was also criticised for limiting command responsibility and failing to recognise the continuing nature of enforced disappearance as a crime. Some concerns were addressed in later drafts, and the ordinance was approved in December.
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances conducted a four-day technical visit in June, meeting government stakeholders and victims. The group urged the government to establish a victim and witness protection system, strengthen the national Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, and expressed concern over continued widespread impunity.
Also in June 2025, the national Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances submitted its second interim report to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus.
The commission said it had received 1,837 complaints regarding enforced disappearances, of which 1,772 active cases were entered into its database after preliminary review.
Among them, 1,427 victims were reportedly found alive, while 345 remained missing. Based on its data, the commission found that 67 percent of enforced disappearances were linked to state agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab). It also noted a “widespread and systematic culture of torture”.
In February, the UN released findings from its fact-finding investigation, which found reasonable grounds to believe that the former government and its security and intelligence apparatus, along with violent elements associated with the Awami League, systematically committed serious human rights violations.
In May, thousands of Islamist protesters gathered in Dhaka to protest reforms proposed by the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission, calling them “anti-Islamic”.
The Amnesty report also said cuts in USAID funding severely affected Rohingya people in Bangladesh.
