According to a Human Rights Watch report, the country of Bangladesh has launched a very aggressive crackdown on opposition parties before the upcoming general elections, which has led to the arrest of nearly 10,000 activists. This move was intended to target various political levels from senior figures to grassroot supporters. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has claimed that half of its five million members are likely to be facing “politically motivated prosecution.” There has been a massive increase in the prison population following the mass arrests, raising concerns about the human rights situation. With the general election scheduled for January 7th, 2024, tensions will be escalating because of the Bengali government’s extensive efforts to stifle opposition voices. HRW has called for diplomatic partners to express concerns of the crackdown, creating some repercussions on economic cooperation as Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest garment exporters.
I find this article to be very concerning as it is discussing thousands of people being unlawfully detained before a political election. The activists who have been arrested should be allowed to protest what they feel might be wrong. This is a serious allegation against Bangladesh, which was reported by the Human Rights Watch. On one side, the crowd was protesting with violent expressions and the situation had to be controlled, but on the other side, how it was handled was a violation of the activists’ rights as it would cause overcrowding in prisons. These unlawful arrests could have a serious impact on the amount of garment products Bangladesh exports.
In International Relations, we have learned about human rights. The amount of activists that have been detained are forced into the same prisons, causing a major overcrowding of prisons. This issue could cause mental health problems and increase risks of violence. We have also discussed Non-Governmental organization, and the Human Rights Watch is an NGO based in New York City which aims to conduct research and advocacy for human rights. And we have also discussed economic IGOs and multinational corporations. Since Bangladesh is a major garment exporter, there are a lot of companies around the world that use the country’s garment as a product.