Law enforcement in Bangladesh is based on laws drafted during the colonial period, when law enforcement was used as a tool for state control rather than serving the public.287 The legal framework grants security forces wide powers and opens up for widespread impunity.288 As reported by Human Rights Watch, security forces have been operating in a ‘deeply ingrained culture of impunity’.289 No reforms were initiated in the security structures within the reference period of this report,290 including in abusive security and intelligence entities,291 although the UN OHCHR292 and Human Rights Watch293 as well as the national enquiry commission for enforced disappearances, have specifically called for disbanding the RAB.294 RAB is reportedly planning to change its name, logo and uniform, and a new law is being drafted to regulate its operation.295
Some security agencies are under military command and include army officers, which might make their reform difficult according to International Crisis Group, given the interim government’s dependence on the military for support. RAB, for example, includes military, paramilitary staff force, in addition to police personnel. Other paramilitary forces involved in alleged abuse include the BGB, Ansar, as well as the military intelligence (DGFI).296
There has been some reshuffling within the security structures.297 The head of the police has been replaced,298 as well as heads of specialised units including RAB, DGFI,299 DB,300 National Security Intelligence,301 National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre,302 and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime.303 Senior law enforcement staff have been forced into retirement,304 or transferred to new positions.305 Some have also been arrested.306 According to police sources, as reported by Bdnews24.com in April 2024, a total of 119 law enforcement officers had been reassigned to new positions, 82 had become ‘officers on special duty’ (i.e. being stripped off relevant official duties, or transferred to remote or insignificant posts307), and 30 had been forced into retirement. Meanwhile, 57 were absent from their posts.308 TIB reported on 369 sub-inspectors undergoing training at the Police Academy in Sarda being ‘controversially discharged on allegations of indiscipline’, and further reported on an ongoing process of ‘verifying the political affiliation of police officers appointed during the Awami League era’.309 Nevertheless, there were still staff members loyal to the former regime within the security structures.310
There were also reshuffles and dismissals at the highest level of the army,311 and the heads of 50 police stations were dismissed, according to Al Jazeera, allegedly for being politically affiliated with the Awami League.312
Sources reported on security forces replicating patterns of abuses that took place under the former government, for example repeated arrest and remand, and arrests of political figures (now targeting the Awami League) and journalists perceived as affiliated with the party.313 There were continuing reports of extrajudicial killings occurring during operations of various forces,314 as well as instances of custodial deaths315 and torture.316 Netra News suggested that the army’s magistracy powers have emboldened soldiers to resort to abusive methods, reminiscent of practices under the former government.317 For example, in January 2025, soldiers detained the local leader of Jubo Dal, BNP’s youth party in Cumilla and tortured him to death.318 On 7 January 2025, the first formal complaint against security officials for incidents taking place after the fall of the former government was publicly confirmed, involving 33 defendants, including a ranking officer and eight army personnel accused of custodial torture causing two deaths.319
- 287
HRW, After the Monsoon Revolution, 27 January 2025, url; UNDP, Why police transformation is critical for Bangladesh, 19 November 2024, url
- 288
HRW, After the Monsoon Revolution, 27 January 2025, url; UN OHCHR, Human Rights Violations and Abuses Related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh, 12 February 2025, url, paras. 310, 320
- 289
HRW, After the Monsoon Revolution, 27 January 2025, url
- 290
TIB, ‘New Bangladesh’, Tracking the First 100 Days after the Fall of the Authoritarian Regime, 18 November 2024, url, p. 9; International Crisis Group, A New Era in Bangladesh? The First Hundred Days of Reform, 14 November 2024, url; DW, Is Bangladesh ready for a ‘credible’ election?, 17 June 2025, url
- 291
HRW, After the Monsoon Revolution, 27 January 2025, url; TIB, ‘New Bangladesh’, Tracking the First 100 Days after the Fall of the Authoritarian Regime, 18 November 2024, url, p. 9
- 292
UN OHCHR, Human Rights Violations and Abuses Related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh, 12 February 2025, url, para. 356
- 293
HRW, After the Monsoon Revolution, 27 January 2025, url
- 294
Benar News, 'Lips sewn without anesthetic,’ other shockers from Bangladesh report on Hasina-linked disappearances, 19 December 2024, url
- 295
Daily Star (The), Rab wants to shed its dark past, 13 November 2024, url
- 296
International Crisis Group, A New Era in Bangladesh? The First Hundred Days of Reform, 14 November 2024, url
- 297
Daily Star (The), Reshuffle in police top order, 5 March 2025, url
- 298
Daily Star (The), Baharul Alam made IGP, 21 November 2024, url; Business Standard (The), Former IGP Mainul Islam appointed as ambassador to Poland, 10 April 2025, url
- 299
Dhaka Tribune, New RAB, DMP chiefs appointed, 7 April 2024, url; Daily Star (The), Maj Gen Faizur Rahman made DG of DGFI, 12 August 2024, url
- 300
Dhaka Tribune, Rezaul Karim Mallik becomes new DB chief, 1 September 2024, url
- 301
Business Standard (The), Maj Gen Abu Mohammad Sarwar Farid new NSI DG: ISPR, 13 August 2024, url
- 302
Dhaka Tribune, Major reshuffle in Army top brass, 14 October 2024, url
- 303
Prothom Alo, Three senior police officers sent into forced retirement, 21 August 2024, url
- 304
International Crisis Group, A New Era in Bangladesh? The First Hundred Days of Reform, 14 November 2024, url; Business Standard (The), Major reshuffle in police: 53 transferred, 104 promoted to additional SPs, 27 February 2025, url; Prothom Alo, 4 DIGs sent on forced retirement, 23 February 2025, url
- 305
Business Standard (The), Major reshuffle in police: 53 transferred, 104 promoted to additional SPs, 27 February 2025, url
- 306
International Crisis Group, A New Era in Bangladesh? The First Hundred Days of Reform, 14 November 2024, url; Business Standard (The), Salman, ex-IGP Mamun sent to jail after remand, 8 March 2025, url
- 307
Iftekhar Zaman, Executive Director of TIB, online interview, 5 April 2024
- 308
Bdnews24.com, Reforms a ‘disappointment’ for police as ‘fear’ looms over taking effective action, 30 April 2025, url
- 309
TIB, ‘New Bangladesh’, Tracking the First 100 Days after the Fall of the Authoritarian Regime, 18 November 2024, url, p. 5
- 310
Diplomat (The), Crime Wave Sweeps Post-Hasina Bangladesh, 3 March 2025, url; Print (The), Bangladesh can’t afford another coup. Yunus govt must not trust all army officers with power, 1 October 2024, url
- 311
TIB, ‘New Bangladesh’, Tracking the First 100 Days after the Fall of the Authoritarian Regime, 18 November 2024, url, p. 14
- 312
Al Jazeera, ‘Gotham but no Batman’: Crime grips Bangladesh 6 months after Hasina fled, 4 March 2025, url
- 313
HRW, After the Monsoon Revolution, 27 January 2025, url; TIB, ‘New Bangladesh’, Tracking the First 100 Days after the Fall of the Authoritarian Regime, 18 November 2024, url, pp. 6–7
- 314
TIB, ‘New Bangladesh’, Tracking the First 100 Days after the Fall of the Authoritarian Regime, 18 November 2024, url, p. 9; Odhikar, Annual Human Rights Report 2024, 10 February 2025, url, p. 34
- 315
Netra News, Court filing alleges deadly custodial abuse by Bangladesh Army personnel, 1 February 2025, url; ASK, Statistics Monthly 2024, n.d., url; ASK, Statistics Monthly 2025, January–March 2025, [2025], url
- 316
Odhikar, Annual Human Rights Report 2024, 10 February 2025, url, p. 34; ASK, Statistics Monthly 2025, January–March 2025, [2025], url
- 317
Netra News, In Cumilla, a murder exposes army’s contempt for rules, 10 March 2025, url
- 318
Netra News, In Cumilla, a murder exposes army’s contempt for rules, 10 March 2025, url; Benar News, Bangladesh govt orders probe into BNP youth activist’s in-custody death, 1 February 2025, url
- 319
Netra News, Court filing alleges deadly custodial abuse by Bangladesh Army personnel, 1 February 2025, url