Executive Summary

• Extrajudicial killing, that is ‘deliberate killing of an individual by a state agent (or with their consent) without a previous judgment affording all judicial guarantees, such as a fair and unbiased procedure’ has become pervasive in Bangladesh for the past decades. At least 3,453 people have died between 2001 and 2018. This project gathered details, including names, dates, place of incidents and the alleged law enforcement agency involved, of an additional 591 cases between 2019 and 2021. This makes the total number of victims since 2001 at 4,044.

• Disaggregation of the nature of the extrajudicial killings of the past three years shows that ‘gunfight’ has been the most frequent mode of deliberated killings; it constitutes 86.63% of the cases we have gathered details about. These have taken place in 56 districts, which reveals that it is widespread and has become a pattern of behavior of law enforcement agencies. A total of 238 cases have been identified in the Cox’s Bazar district alone.

• Police including the DB Police (48.05%) and the Rapid Action Battalion (31.90%) have been alleged to have perpetrated these killings. In the past three years, the maximum number of killings took place in July 2020 when 49 people became victims. This is followed by 42 incidents in May 2019.

• The government has not only continued to deny the incidents but also patronized and normalized these through rewards and impunity. Supportive comments of officials, political leaders, and members of the parliaments have helped to continue this phenomenon and exculpate the perpetrators. Extrajudicial killing is a violation of human rights accorded by the Bangladesh constitution and Bangladesh’s commitment to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICPPR).

• Considering the nature, scope and pattern of these incidents, and the responsibilities of the government pursuant to the principle of right to life and the international covenant, this study recommends (1) appointment of an independent commission to investigate each alleged incident of extrajudicial killings of the past decade and bring the perpetrators to justice; (2) immediately stop statements and behaviors justifying and rationalizing extrajudicial killings; (3) ensure safety and provide legal and material support to the families of the victims in their pursuance of justice; (4) bring clarity and transparency to the investigation mechanism within law enforcing agencies regarding the allegations of extrajudicial killings; (5) repeal or amend laws regarding law enforcement agencies which provide the impression of impunity to the members of the law enforcing agencies; and (6) revamp the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).