IPU calls on interim government to protect MPs' rights

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has expressed concerns over “human rights violations” targeting former Bangladeshi members of parliament.

In a media statement on Wednesday, the Canada-based non-governmental think-tank Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG) said a proposal was approved at the 216th session of the IPU Governing Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Oct 23.

It cited “threats, acts of intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, inhumane conditions of confinement, and a lack of due process” against the former MPs.

In the statement, GCGD said the council expressed “firm hope that the interim authorities will take all necessary measures to ensure that candidates from all political parties, including the Awami League, and their supporters are able to fully exercise their fundamental right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, on an equal footing with other parties and their supporters”

The decision comes after the Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG) presented reports documenting the situation of “122 detained MPs, including 15 women parliamentarians” during a meeting with IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong and the IPU Human Rights Team on Oct 2 in Geneva.

It observed that those in detention are facing “multiple ongoing criminal proceedings”.

“Among them, heroic freedom fighter and former minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun died in custody on the 29th of Sept, 2025. Eight other MPs are on temporary bail,” the statement read.

The council also called on the interim authorities to “create and preserve conditions conducive to the holding of free, fair and transparent elections”, scheduled for the first half of February, emphasising that the outcomes must be “accepted by all stakeholders”.

It reaffirmed the IPU’s readiness to support these efforts and requested that competent authorities provide information on how such assistance can be most effectively delivered.