Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has arrested thousands of people under a newly amended Anti-Terrorism Act, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, warning that the crackdown undermines promises of a democratic transition.
The government took power in August 2024, after protests that killed 1,400 people, and in May 2025 imposed a “temporary” ban on the Awami League, blocking its meetings, publications, and online speech. At least 16 people, including journalists and professors in their 70s and 80s, were detained on August 28 at a Dhaka event marking the country’s 1971 independence — even as police ignored the mob that attacked them.
Rights groups say scores of detainees are being held under terrorism charges, many denied medical care. “The interim government should not be engaging in the same partisan behaviour that Bangladeshis had to endure under Sheikh Hasina,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The UN’s human rights office should urgently intervene.”