BD cancels top human rights group’s licence

DHAKA: Bangladesh has cancelled the operating licence of its top human rights group and accused it of tarnishing the country’s image, the organisation said on Monday -- prompting a chorus of condemnation from rights advocates.

Odhikar has been documenting human rights violations in Bangladesh since 1994. It has worked closely with United Nations bodies and recorded thousands of extrajudicial killings by security forces as well as enforced disappearances allegedly perpetrated by the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) police unit.

The United States in December imposed sanctions on the RAB and seven of its senior officers -- including the national police chief -- over rights abuses including hundreds of enforced disappearances.

Odhikar shared an order issued Sunday by the NGO Affairs Bureau, a wing of the Prime Minister’s Office that regulates charities, saying the government had rejected its application to renew its registration.