US Human Rights Report 2023: Significant HR issues persist

US Embassy, Dhaka

Noting that there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Bangladesh during the year 2023, the US State Department in its HRR for the year said, “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary…

The report also mentioned … serious problems with political prisoners or detainees; transnational repression against individuals in another country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offenses of a relative; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists…

The report also noted … “unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, and enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and civil society organizations…

The US State Department report also listed “restrictions on freedom of movement; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; serious government corruption; serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations..

It also wrote on “…extensive gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, workplace violence, child, early, and forced marriage, and other forms of such violence; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic minority groups or Indigenous peoples; laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; significant restrictions on independent trade unions and workers’ freedom of association; and existence of the worst forms of child labor.

It said, “There were numerous reports of widespread impunity for human rights abuses. In most cases, the government did not take credible steps to identify and punish officials or security force members who may have committed human rights abuses.

The US Embassy in Dhaka is a press release said the Human Rights Report, is a factual and objective record on the status of respect for human rights worldwide. The 2023 Human Rights Report (HRR) covers 198 countries and territories. The individual reports in the HRR detail credible factual information on human rights abuses and violations, providing a tool used by governments, advocates, journalists and others concerned about the state of human rights and democracy in specific countries and territories. 

The United States has issued these reports for nearly five decades.  The country reports in the HRR do not draw legal conclusions, rank countries, or draw comparisons. 

The HRR represents several months of work performed by U.S. Department of State colleagues in our missions abroad and in Washington, D.C. The HRR informs U.S. foreign policy decisions and assists the U.S. Congress, Executive Branch, and immigration courts when accurate information on human rights conditions is needed. 

The HRR also informs the work of civil society — including human rights defenders—lawmakers abroad, scholars, immigration judges and asylum officers, multilateral institutions, and other governments. The report for Bangladesh is available alongside the reports for every other country at state.gov. The report released today covers the 2023 calendar year, the press release added.