Overview of Human Rights in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy.  Political and security conditions have taken a turn for the worse since 2005. To date, the country has seen a spate of bombings, most targeting government institutions, but some civilian locales were hit as well. Bangladesh’s human rights record worsened during this period as well. Human rights activists and lawyers, as well as members of the ethnic minority and opposition politicians, were harassed and intimidated. Extra-judicial killings, improper uses of force, and torture became more frequent. Impunity and corruption means that many abuses go largely uninvestigated and therefore unpunished. For another straight year, Bangladesh heads Transparency International’s list as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, while it also ranks low on global indices measuring standard of living and human development.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

137th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.