and he was awaiting a final decision by the regardless of the strength of the evidence Court of Cassation at the end of the year. presented against them. ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES The exact number of people who were forcibly disappeared was not known; some estimates BANGLADESH suggested over 80. Of the documented cases of 20 people subjected to enforced People’s Republic of Bangladesh disappearance between 2012 and 2014, nine Head of state: Abdul Hamid people were subsequently found dead. Six Head of government: Sheikh Hasina had returned to their families after periods of captivity lasting from weeks to months, with no news of their whereabouts until Dozens of people were forcibly disappeared. their release. There was no news about the Journalists and human rights defenders circumstances of the other five. continued to be attacked and harassed. Following the enforced disappearance Violence against women was a major human and subsequent killing of seven people in rights concern. Police and other security Narayanganj in April, three officers of the forces committed torture with impunity. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were detained Factory workers continued to be at risk and investigated for their alleged involvement owing to hazardous safety standards in in abductions and killings; this rose to at the workplace. At least one person was least 17 RAB officers by the end of the year. executed with no right to appeal against his This was the first such action since the death sentence. formation of the battalion in 2004. Amnesty International welcomed the investigation as BACKGROUND a move towards holding law enforcement The government of Prime Minister Sheikh officials accountable for alleged human rights Hasina continued in office after her party, violations. However, concerns continued the Awami League, was declared the winner that the government might drop the cases in the January elections. The elections if public pressure to bring them to justice were boycotted by the opposition party, the lessened. Apart from this case, there were no Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and its allies. clear indications of a thorough investigation More than 100 people were killed during into other incidents such as the unexplained opposition protests against elections, some abduction and killing of Abraham Linkon in after police opened fire on demonstrators February.1 who were often violent. None of these deaths were believed to have been investigated. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Supporters of opposition parties reportedly The government’s use of Section 57 of the attacked bus commuters with petrol bombs, Information and Communication Technology killing at least nine people and injuring (ICT) Act severely restricted the right to many others. freedom of expression. Under this section, Verdicts by the International Crimes those convicted of violating the Act could Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court set up in be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in 2009 to try crimes committed during the prison if the charges were brought against 1971 Bangladesh independence war, were them before 6 October 2013; at that time, delivered amid a highly polarized political an amendment not only increased the atmosphere. Supporters of these trials maximum punishment to 14 years in prison demanded death sentences for those on trial 72 Amnesty International Report 2014/15 but also imposed a minimum punishment of 100 of those women were raped, of whom seven years. 11 were then killed. More than 40 were Section 57 of the ICT Act criminalized subjected to physical violence because a wide array of peaceful actions such their families could not provide the dowry as criticizing Islamic religious views in a demanded by the husband or his family, 16 newspaper article or reporting on human of whom died from their injuries. Women and rights violations. At least four bloggers, two girls were also subjected to domestic violence, Facebook users and two officials of a human acid attacks and trafficking. rights organization were charged under Section 57 of the ICT Act during 2013-2014. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT They included bloggers Asif Mohiuddin, Torture and other ill-treatment was Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, Mashiur Rahman widespread and committed with impunity. Biplob and Rasel Parvez; and human Police routinely tortured detainees in rights defenders Adilur Rahman Khan and their custody. Methods included beating, Nasiruddin Elan. suspension from the ceiling, electric shocks More than a dozen media workers, to the genitals and, in some cases, shooting including journalists, said that they had been detainees’ legs. At least nine people died in threatened by security agencies for criticizing police custody between January and July the authorities. The threats were usually in 2014, allegedly as a result of torture. phone calls directly to the journalists, or via messages to their editors. Many journalists WORKERS’ RIGHTS and talk show participants said they exercised Safety standards in factories and other self-censorship as a result. workplaces were dangerously low. At least Freedom of expression was also threatened 1,130 garment workers were killed and at by religious groups. In at least 10 instances, least 2,000 more injured when Rana Plaza, a these groups were reported to have spread nine-storey building that housed five garment rumours that a certain individual had factories, collapsed on 24 April 2013. It later used social media to insult Islam, or had emerged that managers had ordered workers engaged in allegedly anti-Islamic activity to go into the building that day despite it in the workplace. At least five people were having been closed on the previous day after subsequently attacked; two were killed and cracks had appeared in the walls. A similar others sustained serious injuries. The two incident had occurred in 2012, when at least killed were Ahmed Rajib2 and a Rajshahi 112 workers died in a fire at the Tazreen University teacher, AKM Shafiul Islam, who Fashions factory in Dhaka after managers died of stab wounds in November 2014, stopped them from escaping, saying it was a allegedly perpetrated by members of a group false alarm. who denounced his opposition to female Initiatives to provide compensation to students wearing burqa in his class as the victims of workplace disasters involving “un-Islamic”. the government, global brands and the ILO proved insufficient, and survivors continued VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS to struggle to support themselves and Violence against women remained a major their families. human rights concern. A women’s rights organization, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, DEATH PENALTY said its analysis of media reports showed that Courts continued to impose death sentences. at least 423 women and girls were subjected Eleven were imposed by the International to various forms of violence in October 2014 Crimes Tribunal. One death sentence was alone. The organization said that more than imposed directly by the Supreme Court Amnesty International Report 2014/15 73 after the government appealed against the respective communications; the Belarusian defendant’s acquittal by the Tribunal. He was authorities proceeded with the executions executed in December 2013. Prisoners whose regardless, in violation of their obligations death sentences were upheld on appeal were under the International Covenant on Civil at imminent risk of execution. and Political Rights (ICCPR). One other man, Eduard Lykau, was a death row prisoner at the end of the year. 1. Bangladesh: Stop them, now! Enforced disappearances, torture and In October, the UN Human Rights restrictions on freedom of expression (ASA 13/005/2014) Committee ruled that the execution of Vasily www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA13/005/2014/en/f162d376- Yuzepchuk in 2010 constituted a violation of 6eda-49fd-8cf5-4c79fc2067b0/asa130052014en.pdf his right to life under Article 6 of the ICCPR. 2. Bangladesh: Attacks on journalists rise with tension around war It was the third such ruling by the Committee crimes tribunal (PRE 01/085/2013) against Belarus. The Committee also found www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/bangladesh-attacks- that he had been subjected to torture in order journalists-rise-tension-around-war-crimes-tribunal-2013 to extract a confession, that his right to a fair trial had been violated and that his trial had failed to meet the necessary criteria for independence and impartiality. BELARUS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION - MEDIA Freedom of expression was severely Republic of Belarus restricted. The media remained largely under Head of state: Alyaksandr Lukashenka state control and was used to smear political Head of government: Mikhail Myasnikovich opponents. Independent media outlets were harassed, and bloggers, online activists and journalists were subjected to administrative Belarus remained the only country in and criminal prosecution. State-run Europe to carry out executions. Opposition distribution outlets refused to disseminate politicians and human rights activists were independent periodicals and internet activity detained for legitimate activities. The right remained closely monitored and controlled. to freedom of expression was severely In April, the authorities started using Article restricted and journalists faced harassment. 22.9 of the Administrative Code (“unlawful Severe restrictions on freedom of assembly creation and dissemination of mass media remained in place. NGOs continued to be produce”) to prosecute freelance journalists arbitrarily denied registration. writing for media outlets