Have extrajudicial killings continued under Bangladesh’s Yunus government?

More than a year after PM Hasina’s ouster, unlawful killings and disappearances – features of her rule – continue.

When Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Bangladesh’s prime minister in August 2024 after a student-led uprising, many in the country believed the darkest days of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings were finally over.

The interim administration, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, sworn in on August 8 last year, arrived on promises of justice, reform and an end to state violence. But more than a year on, those promises are under question.

A new report by the Bangladeshi rights group Odhikar shows that while the number of killings has fallen sharply, the system of impunity that allowed such abuses to flourish remains largely intact.

Here’s what the findings show and why they matter as Bangladesh prepares for parliamentary elections in February to choose its next government.

From 2009 – when Hasina came back to power after six years spent out of office – to 2022, Bangladesh’s security forces are accused of having killed at least 2,597 people through extrajudicial executions, custodial torture or by opening fire on protesters, an analysis of human rights data suggests.