CONDEMNING POLITICALLY MOTIVATED EXCLUSION, INTIMIDATION, AND SUPPRESSION OF LAWYERS IN BAR ASSOCIATION ELECTIONS IN BANGLADESH

We, the undersigned human rights organisations, bar associations, and law societies from across the globe, express our profound concern and strong condemnation regarding the widespread obstruction, intimidation, and exclusion of lawyers identified as supporters of the Awami League or as independent candidates from participating in bar association elections throughout Bangladesh since the formation of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government under the leadership of Tarique Rahman on 17 February 2026.

According to reports published in various newspapers and verified by JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), more than three hundred lawyers have been prevented from contesting elections in at least Tweenty Three bar associations across Bangladesh. These include the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association and the bar associations of Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Khulna, Gazipur, Barishal, Kumilla, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Jhalokathi, Panchagarh, Chandpur, Shariatpur, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Tangail, Meherpur, Patuakhali, and Thakurgaon.

The reported actions include the refusal by election commissions to issue nomination papers, obstruction of the collection or submission of nomination forms by lawyers aligned with ruling party and opposition groups, arbitrary cancellation of candidacies, physical intimidation, threats and violence, police harassment and coercion, and the creation of an atmosphere of fear designed to prevent lawyers from participating in professional elections.

We are particularly alarmed by reports that the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association cancelled the nominations of 42 lawyers after branding them “collaborators of fascism,” while the Mymensingh District Bar Association cancelled the candidacies of 16 lawyers and the Munshiganj Bar Association cancelled 11 candidacies.

Equally troubling are reports that in the Dhaka Bar Association elections for 23 posts, the Chattogram Bar Association elections for 21 posts, and elections for 15 posts in the bar associations of Shariatpur, Barishal, and Jamalpur, not a single Awami League-supported or independent lawyer was even able to collect nomination papers.

In Gazipur, 39 lawyers reportedly sought nomination papers for 16 posts but were denied forms by the Chief Election Commissioner. In Chattogram, lawyers attempting to collect nomination papers for 21 posts were obstructed by politically aligned groups, leading the Chief Election Commissioner to reportedly shut the doors of his office.

We are deeply disturbed by allegations that, in Thakurgaon, police visited the residence of a presidential candidate late at night before the election and pressured him to withdraw from the race. Reports from Shariatpur further indicate that one lawyer was physically assaulted while attempting to collect nomination papers. In Kumilla, although nomination papers were eventually submitted through the intervention of a local Member of Parliament, election campaigning was allegedly obstructed by politically aligned lawyers.

Furthermore, reports from Rajshahi, Khulna, Naogaon, Jhalokathi, Manikganj, Dinajpur, Panchagarh, Sherpur, Tangail, Meherpur, Patuakhali, Panchagarh and Chandpur describe a longstanding climate of fear marked by arrests, threats of criminal prosecution, threats of mob violence, and other forms of intimidation that prevented both Awami League-affiliated and ordinary lawyers from freely participating in elections.

These actions constitute far more than administrative irregularities or partisan disputes. They represent a grave assault on the rule of law, the independence of the legal profession, freedom of association, and the constitutional principles upon which a democratic society must stand.

Bar associations are professional and non-political institutions. Membership in, or support for, a political ideology cannot lawfully or morally justify the denial of equal participation in professional bodies. The exclusion of lawyers on political grounds undermines the independence of the legal profession and erodes public confidence in the justice system.

We are especially concerned by attempts to morally justify these discriminatory practices by portraying lawyers with differing political views as undeserving of equal rights and professional participation. Such practices are incompatible with democratic values, constitutional governance, and Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law, including the principles of equality before the law, freedom of expression, and freedom of association.

These interferences with bar association elections must be read in the context of a broader and systematic crackdown against the legal profession in Bangladesh, characterized by the arbitrary detention of lawyers on politically motivated charges — between August 2024 and September 2025, JMBF documented 268 incidents of repression affecting 849 lawyers — in direct violation of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

We therefore call upon:

The Government of Bangladesh to immediately ensure free, fair, and non-discriminatory bar association elections throughout the country;

All bar association election commissions to restore cancelled candidacies and guarantee equal access to nomination procedures for all eligible lawyers irrespective of political belief;

The authorities to end all forms of intimidation, harassment, politically motivated prosecution, and violence against lawyers;

National and international legal bodies to closely monitor the situation concerning the independence of the legal profession in Bangladesh; and

The international community, including United Nations human rights mechanisms and global legal institutions, to engage urgently with the Government of Bangladesh regarding these developments.

The independence of the legal profession is a cornerstone of democracy and the rule of law. Attempts to silence, exclude, or intimidate lawyers on the basis of political identity threaten not only individual rights, but also the integrity of the justice system itself.

We stand in solidarity with all lawyers in Bangladesh who seek to exercise their professional and democratic rights freely, safely, and without discrimination.

Sent-in by: Advocate Shahanur Islam

×