Women’s rights activists, protest leaders, and families of the disappeared advocate for rights and accountability
(DHAKA, February 10, 2026)—Bangladesh’s new government should protect the rights of women and minorities, end political violence, and ensure accountability for past crimes, said Fortify Rights in a film released today ahead of the February 12 national elections.
“Bangladesh is at a crossroads,” said John Quinley, Director at Fortify Rights. “These elections will determine whether the promises of the Monsoon Revolution translate into lasting reform or give way to renewed impunity and further restrictions. The next government should decisively break with past abuses and uphold fundamental rights.”
In producing the film, Fortify Rights spoke with women’s rights activists, members of a youth-led political party, protest leaders, and families of enforced disappearance victims, who emphasized both hope for a “new Bangladesh” and urgent concerns about backsliding.ance victims, who emphasized both hope for a “new Bangladesh” and urgent concerns about backsliding.
One of the clearest tests of reform in Bangladesh is the struggle for women’s rights and equality. The film documents the attempt by conservative religious groups to undermine the government-appointed Women’s Affairs Reform Commission, falsely claiming that its work is “against Islam” and calling for its dissolution. Ahead of the national elections, leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami—Bangladesh’s biggest Islamist party—publicly opposed gender equality.
“It’s not possible,” Shafiqur Rahman, the party leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, told media outlet Al Jazeera when asked whether a woman could lead the party, citing what he described as God-given differences between men and women. “Allah made everyone in its own entity.”
Jamaat-e-Islami has yet to nominate any women candidates.
“We will place our demand to eliminate any discrimination faced by women at all levels and in all areas,” said Shireen Huq, head of the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission in the film, while advocating for an option for a civil law “based on the equality of men and women.” She affirmed, “If someone is religious, we have absolutely no intention of hurting that.”
The next government should ensure that women’s rights are fully protected in law and practice and reject regressive efforts to roll back progress toward equality, said Fortify Rights.
Although the interim government promised sweeping reforms following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that ended her 15-year reign, core demands for accountability remain unmet, including for crimes—such as killings and enforced disappearances—committed by the former regime.
A U.N. Fact-Finding Mission report documented how Bangladesh authorities and then-ruling Awami League party supporters killed more than 1,400 people during the July and August 2024 crackdown on protesters. The nationwide, student-led protests called for an end to the discriminatory quota system that entrenched political favoritism and excluded qualified young people from employment. Hasina’s violent response to the protests led to her ouster.
For more than a decade, security forces and members of the Awami League have also carried out extrajudicial killings and torture against political opponents, activists, and others. The government-mandated Commission on Enforced Disappearances has also documented systemic state involvement under Hasina in disappearances, reporting that, as of 2025, more than 280 people remain missing. Families of the disappeared continue to courageously speak out, demanding truth and justice after years of silence and denial from the authorities.
“Isn’t it our right to at least know the reason why enforced disappearances occurred,” said Ayesha Al, the mother of Bangladesh National Party activist Abdul Kader Masum, who disappeared after members of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion arrested him in December 2013. “There should be no concept of disappearance in Bangladesh.”
In a welcomed move, the interim government passed the ordinance on Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress to implement the International Convention on Enforced Disappearance. The ordinance provides “legal aid, rehabilitation, compensation, and assistance to victims and their families” and establishes a victim’s fund.
In January 2026, Fortify Rights monitored historic post-Hasina proceedings at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) that took place in Dhaka to consider charges of enforced disappearance against deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and other former government officials. While the trial is a positive step towards accountability, the court and the ICT Act retains the death penalty, allows trials in absentia, and preserves trial procedures that fall short of international standards.
Without prompt, impartial, and independent investigations and prosecutions consistent with international fair trial standards, the cycle of impunity risks continuing into the next political era, said Fortify Rights, reiterating calls for justice and reparations for survivors of enforced disappearance and their families.
“The aspirations of the young generation that led the Monsoon Revolution for a new, rights-respecting Bangladesh must not be ignored,” said John Quinley. “Protecting women’s rights, ending impunity, and addressing state violence should be at the center of the new governments policies.”