Bangladesh's Reform Promise Meets Its First Test

Author: Aahana Nagwekar

October 3, 2026

HRRC urges Bangladesh’s new government to uphold its promises to the Bangladeshi people, keeping necessary rights groups in place, and steering away from abusive organizations.

Former Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina in 2023 [Image credit: DelwarHossain/Wikimedia Commons]

Bangladesh's new government took office, promising a break from the abuses of the Sheikh Hasina era. Critics say it is already retreating. Human Rights Watch says three laws passed in September reversed human rights protections and broke the currently ruling Bangladesh National Party's (BNP) reform commitments.

The National Human Rights Commission is one casualty. An interim-government ordinance had encouraged it to investigate security agencies, but the BNP let it lapse. The replacement law lets the commission only request reports from agencies accused of abuse, and restores government control over appointments. A separate act also raises the bar for holding commanders responsible for enforced disappearances, now requiring evidence of direct orders.

The most contested change involves the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which is a local law enforcement agency. The new law transfers its personnel, powers, property and records to a "new" Special Response Battalion, which even kept the same logo. The government rejects the characterization. The home minister insisted RAB is truly being abolished and the SRB is a new battalion. He also claimed the SRB would have stronger accountability and transparency provisions. 

However, certain opponents are unconvinced. Opposition lawmakers argued that broad consultation and stronger accountability mechanisms should come before dissolving RAB. Analysts at Netra News called the process rushed, noting that Bangladesh's inquiry commission verified 1,569 enforced disappearances under Hasina, and that RAB ran more than half of the 40 secret detention facilities it confirmed.

In this situation, the stakes are high. If the party chooses to rebrand instead of doing the reforms that are necessary, the institutions behind past abuses will continue to operate, hurting innocent civilians.

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Glossary

• Accountability – subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; 

• Abolished – to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void

• Characterization – the act of characterizing or describing the individual quality of a person or thing

• Consultation – a deliberation between physicians on a case or its treatment

• Contested – involving a disagreement or dispute

• Detention Facilities – a place where people who have committed crimes are kept as punishment

• Dissolve – to cause to disperse or disappear

• Enforced Disappearances – the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State

• Interim-Government Ordinance – a temporary law enacted by a provisional or transitional administration during a period when a regular parliament or permanent legislative body is absent or inactive

• Inquiry Commission – temporary, independent official body set up by a government or international organization to investigate specific matters of major public concern

• Lapse – an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state

• Opposition – hostile or contrary action or condition

• Ordinance – an authoritative rule or law; a decree or command

• Rebrand – to change or update the brand or branding of (a product, service, etc.)

• Transparency – the principle of operating with openness, honesty, and clarity in actions and decisions