Paris, Feb 11 (IANS) Several international human rights organisations condemned the “July Mass Uprising (Protection and Determination of Liability) Ordinance, 2026,” issued by Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which grants legal protection and indemnity to participants in the 2024 demonstrations that toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
The Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of Bangladesh’s law ministry published a gazette notification on January 25 in connection with the issue.
In a joint statement, the ten human rights organisations asserted that the ordinance grants impunity for criminal offences committed in the name of “political resistance”, directly violating the Constitution of Bangladesh, international human rights law, and the fundamental principles of justice. The signatories described the move as a clear and serious violation of human rights.
“The central premise of this ordinance is to grant immunity for acts committed in the context of ‘political resistance’. However, history and international law clearly demonstrate that violence carried out under political justification—especially serious crimes such as the taking of human life—can never be placed above the law. When the state itself exempts a particular group from judicial accountability through legislation, it institutionalises a culture of impunity rather than establishing justice,” read the joint statement.
“With respect to incidents that occurred in July and August, the ordinance mandates the withdrawal of all past criminal cases and prohibits the filing of future cases. As a result, countless families who lost their children, parents, siblings, or loved ones to violence are receiving a clear message from the state: their suffering, losses, and right to truth will not receive legal recognition. This reality represents not only a denial of legal remedies but also a grave violation of human rights,”it added.
Expressing serious concern , the human rights bodies noted that the use of the term “political resistance,” which lacks any precise, foreseeable, or internationally recognised legal definition, creates a serious risk that extrajudicial killings, destruction of property, and violent crimes could be covered under the protective umbrella of “political resistance”.
“As a result, the law creates a grey zone in which the boundary between criminal conduct and political activity can be arbitrarily redefined. A fundamental principle of the rule of law is that laws must be clear so that citizens can understand which actions are criminal and which are not. This ordinance effectively undermines that principle,” they stressed.
Emphasising that the ordinance sets a deeply troubling precedent for the global human rights protection framework, the signatories said, “Political stability cannot be sustained by bypassing justice, and no democratic future can be built by silencing the voices of victims.”
–IANS
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