Paris, Jan 23 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation on Friday asserted that the gravest threat to the independence of lawyers in Bangladesh stems not from chaos, but from governance failure under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
The statement came ahead of the 16th International Day of Endangered Lawyers on Saturday.
In its statement, Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), a Paris-based human rights organisation, said, “The interim government was entrusted with a moral and political mandate—to stabilise institutions, restore justice, and protect fundamental rights. Instead, under its leadership, the legal profession has been driven into systematic fear, repression, and bloodshed. What our report documents is not mere negligence, but a pattern of tolerance, acquiescence, and indirect patronisation of persecution against lawyers.”
According to the rights body, the lawyers in Bangladesh are being targeted through fabricated criminal cases, arbitrarily arrested, publicly vilified, assaulted both inside and outside court premises–and, in the most extreme cases, even killed.
“These abuses are neither hidden nor accidental. They are well documented, widely reported, and repeatedly brought to the attention of the interim authorities. Yet the official response has been silence, delay, and denial,” the JMBF stated.
“Silence—or worse, direct and indirect patronisation by the government—in the face of systematic abuse is not neutrality. It is complicity,” it noted.
The rights body stated that under the Yunus-led interim government, the law-enforcement agencies continue to operate as political instruments, while prosecutorial powers are being abused to punish lawyers for performing their professional duties.
It also highlighted that mob violence against legal professionals across Bangladesh has been met with near-total impunity, sending an unmistakable message that those who defend the law are no longer protected by it.
“The cruelty of this repression lies in its indiscrimination. Lawyers are targeted not only for opposing political views, but simply for being independent. Even lawyers aligned with ruling political forces have been attacked or killed. This exposes the true nature of the crisis: the interim government has either lost control of—or deliberately surrendered—its fundamental duty to protect the justice system itself,” the JMBF mentioned.
“This is not a temporary lapse. It is a systemic erosion of the rule of law, enabled by political cowardice and institutional failure. History will not judge this period by promises made, but by lives lost and freedoms destroyed,” it stressed.
Emphasising that the international community must no longer hide behind optimism or reputation, the JMBF said, “ The evidence is clear. The danger is ongoing. Endangered lawyers cannot wait for another expression of concern while they are jailed, beaten, or buried.”
–IANS
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