‘10,000 arrested in Bangladesh crackdown on opposition’

DHAKA, Bangladesh—Bangladesh has launched a sweeping and violent crackdown on opposition parties to “eliminate competition” ahead of general elections, including arresting almost 10,000 activists, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

As well as the thousands arrested, many from the key Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a staggering number also face charges.

According to the BNP, about half of its five million members “face politically motivated prosecution”, HRW said.

“The arrests, they are not leaving anyone behind, from senior level to the ground level,” one activist told HRW.

Prisons are now at more than double their capacity, the rights group said.

The South Asian nation of around 170 million people holds a general election on January 7, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina eyeing her fourth consecutive term in power.

The BNP and other parties have held mass protests calling on Hasina to quit power and let a neutral government run the polls, demands the government has said are unconstitutional.

“Bangladesh authorities are carrying out mass arrests of political opposition in a clear attempt to quash the opposition and eliminate competition ahead of the general elections”, HRW said.

HRW, who called it a “violent autocratic crackdown”, said at least 16 people have been killed since protests escalated in October, including two police officers.

More than 5,500 people have been wounded.

There was no immediate response by the government to the HRW report, but authorities say that those arrested should face justice for a range of violent crimes.

The police, who have not said how many people they have arrested, accuse the opposition of torching nearly 290 vehicles, mostly buses, during nationwide strikes and transport blockades since October 29.

Police said at least six been killed in the violence. people had