Rights group rebukes arrest of four individuals for criticizing Bangladesh government – JURIST

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday lambasted the arrest of at least four in Bangladesh for posting social media content that allegedly criticized the new government, calling it an alarming continuation of the previous regime’s repressive practices.

“Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government should live up to its promises on freedom of expression, end the misuse of existing laws to silence dissent, and amend or replace legislation to remove provisions that are open to abuse,” the release read.

Among those detained was AM Hasan Nasim, who was arrested on April 17 for posting a cartoon that reportedly depicted a government lawmaker and quoted a jocular comment he had made in parliament. Nasim was arrested at his Dhaka home after a ruling party supporter filed a complaint with police.

Bangladesh, a UN member state since September 1974, is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 19 of which guarantees free expression through media. Bangladesh’s Constitution also enshrines rights to life and liberty, freedom of speech and expression, and equality before the law.

In 2025, the nation’s interim government attempted to curb expression freedom abuses with passage of the 2025 Cyber Security Ordinance, which mandates that only individuals, or their representative, allegedly harmed by online content can lodge a complaint. However, HRW reported that in recent arrests the provision was not followed, with unaffected parties filing complaints.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s landslide election victory in February came 18 months after previous prime minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from office by a popular grassroots movement and fled the country. Hasina’s government “used draconian laws to silence journalists and social media users,” including a July 2024 declaration of a civil quota system and continuous internet blackouts, which limited freedom of expression and made citizen access to information nearly impossible.

Protests ensued and to control them, the government imposed a curfew and a “shoot-on-sight order for mobs of violators,” which reportedly resulted in more than 300 killed and 20,000 injured. The order directly contravened Article 20 of the UDHR, which guarantees rights to peaceful assembly and association.

Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at HRW, urged the new government to step up and take appropriate action to end the human rights violations, writing:

After Bangladeshis risked their lives to demand freedom and respect for human rights, the new government needs the political will to bring reform… It is deeply troubling that within months of taking office, the BNP government is arresting social media users for allegedly posting content it dislikes.