Amnesty International urges govt to stop weaponising labour law to harass Prof Yunus

Amnesty International on Monday said authorities in Bangladesh must stop weaponising labour laws and immediately end their harassment and intimidation of the Nobel Peace Laureate Mohammad Yunus.

In an article on its website, Amnesty International says, "Amnesty International believes that initiating criminal proceedings against Mohammad Yunus and his colleagues for issues that belong to the civil and administrative arena is a blatant abuse of labour laws and the justice system and a form of political retaliation for his work and dissent." 

"Mohammad Yunus' case is emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh, where the authorities have eroded freedoms and bulldozed critics into submission. The abuse of laws and misuse of the justice system to settle vendettas is inconsistent and incompatible with international human rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a state party," Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, was quoted as saying.

"It is time for the Government to put an end to this travesty of justice."

/MHK/