chairman, who was also a member of the ruling party. Golam Rabbani’s family alleged he was killed in retaliation for a series of reports he authored on the chairman, which also prompted the DSA case. WOMEN AND GIRLS The DSA was used to punish individuals with links to critical voices in the diaspora. In November, Khadijatul Kubra, a second-year university student, was finally granted bail after spending over 14 months in arbitrary pretrial detention under the DSA, in connection with critical statements made against the government by a guest speaker during a webinar she had moderated when aged 17. Khadijatul Kubra was repeatedly denied bail by the Supreme Court, which stated she should take responsibility for the views expressed on her talk show.4 In August, the police arbitrarily arrested and detained 58-year-old Anisha Siddika on charges of “sabotage” against the government under the authoritarian Special Powers Act. This came three days after Anisha Siddika’s son, who lives in the USA, published a Facebook post critical of the ruling party. While in police custody, Anisha Siddika was ordered to remove her face veil before police forcibly photographed her and posted it on their Facebook page. She also alleged that she was denied food and the opportunity to pray for 12 hours while in custody.5 HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS In September, a cyber tribunal sentenced Adilur Rahman Khan and A.S.M. Nasiruddin Elan, leaders of human rights organization Odhikar, to two years’ imprisonment under Section 57 of the draconian Information and Communication Technology Act 2006. Odhikar had published a fact-finding report documenting extrajudicial killings conducted by the state in response to a protest in 2013. The two men had endured a decade of persecution, intimidation and harassment by the state and were denied their right to fair trial. The state’s relentless crackdown on Odhikar and its leaders had a chilling effect 92 on civil society, especially those documenting violations of human rights. FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY Authorities used unlawful force coupled with widespread arrests to curb opposition-led protests throughout the year. Police unlawfully used rubber bullets and tear gas against largely peaceful protesters at a sit-in on 29 July in Dhaka. Law enforcement representatives beat unarmed protesters and fired tear gas near a hospital, while officers in civilian clothes used unlawful force against protesters.6 Ahead of the protest, on 28 July, more than 500 opposition leaders and activists were arrested. The police boarded buses entering Dhaka and conducted searches of people’s phones to prevent individuals from joining opposition rallies. In an earlier protest on 18 July, the authorities used live bullets against protesters resulting in at least one death.7 The police filed cases against over 12,000 unnamed and 1,036 named opposition activists in 14 districts. As opposition-led protests intensified, at least 1,727 opposition activists were arrested in Dhaka between 21 and 28 October, including the secretary general of the largest opposition party. In August, Mominul Islam Jishan and five other leaders of the student wing of the main opposition party were picked up from Mominul Islam Jishan’s home by a group of men in civilian clothing who identified themselves as members of the Detective Branch of the police. Their whereabouts remained unknown for over 24 hours before the police told the press that the six men were held under the authoritarian Special Powers Act and Arms Act. ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES AND EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS Odhikar estimated 24 extrajudicial killings and 52 enforced disappearances in 2023, compared to 31 extrajudicial killings and 21 enforced disappearances in 2022. In May, Ikramul Haque, a madrasa teacher, his wife, Anika Faria, and their six-month-old son were brought before a court in Dhaka in The State of the World’s Human Rights