CIVICUS Monitor downgrades Bangladesh’s civic space to ‘closed’

The CIVICUS Monitor has downgraded the civic space in Bangladesh to ‘closed’ and placed it among the 28 most restricted countries in the world.

In a new report on Wednesday, the Johannesburg-based global watchdog said the downgrade is the result of a massive government crackdown on opposition politicians and independent critics in the run-up to national elections in January 2024.

The report – People Power Under Attack 2023 – details civic space conditions in 198 countries and territories. The findings for Bangladesh detail the ruling party’s onslaught on all forms of dissent in 2023 ahead of the January vote.

According to the report, the authorities have targeted human rights defenders, journalists, protesters and other critics using intimidation, violence, arrest and torture, while security forces detained thousands of opposition members on fabricated charges.

“Our data shows the Sheikh Hasina regime stops at nothing to hold on to power,” said Josef Benedict, Asia-Pacific researcher for CIVICUS. “No free and fair elections can take place in the current environment.”

The CIVICUS Monitor rates each country's civic space conditions based on data collected throughout the year from country-focused civil society activists, regionally-based research teams, international human rights indices and the Monitor's own in-house experts.

The data from these four separate sources are then combined to assign each country a rating as either ‘open,’ ‘narrowed,’ ‘obstructed,’ ‘repressed’ or ‘closed.’

This year, nearly a third of humanity, or 30.6 per cent of the global population, lives in these ‘closed’ countries, the highest percentage the CIVICUS Monitor has recorded since its first report in 2018.

Meanwhile, just 2.1 per cent of people live in ‘open’ countries, where civic space is both free and protected, the lowest percentage yet and almost half the rate of six years ago. Together, these statistics point to a world in crisis.

“We are witnessing an unprecedented global crackdown on civic space,” said CIVICUS Monitor lead researcher Marianna Belalba Barreto.

“Bangladesh is now at the forefront of the worldwide assault on rights. Independent civil society has virtually no more space to operate there.”

Bangladesh’s violent attempts to crush the political opposition are the main reason for its downgrade. Police banned protests and blocked roads, then followed up by indiscriminately firing rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons at protesters who came out anyway.

Police also beat opposition supporters with batons, while ruling party supporters armed with hammers, sticks and clubs attacked protesters as law enforcement stood by.

Authorities also targeted journalists exposing state abuses and shut down critical media outlets. Meanwhile, a new Cyber Security Act, rather than freeing online expression, retained most of the repressive language of the previous draconian Digital Security Act used to criminalise thousands of online critics.

Security forces stepped up harassment of human rights defenders too, including those in exile and their families.

In September, a Dhaka court sentenced prominent activists Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan to two years in jail for a ten year-old report investigating extrajudicial killings. Both have since been released on bail.

“Now is the time for the international community to stand with Bangladeshi civil society and demand the Sheikh Hasina regime reverse course,” said Benedict. “World leaders must demand the immediate release of jailed opposition leaders and activists and urge the government to allow all political parties to genuinely participate in the elections.”

The other downgraded countries this year are Bosnia & Herzegovina (obstructed), Germany (narrowed), Kyrgyzstan (repressed), Senegal (repressed), Sri Lanka (repressed) and Venezuela (closed).