Since 2003, HRCBM has stood against genocidal crimes and the mass persecution of minorities in Bangladesh. Through a series of Public Interest Litigations (PILs), we have challenged communal violence, false criminal accusations targeting minority individuals and communities, and systemic state inaction before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Despite favorable rulings and urgent pleas for accountability, successive governments have routinely disregarded judicial interventions — deepening impunity, eroding public trust, and betraying the very minorities the Constitution vows to protect.
Yet we persist. Even as past governments — complicit in decades of abuse — ignored the path of justice, we continue to believe that the conscience of the nation can still awaken.
In the absence of international engagement, we have taken the first steps—through legal action and advocacy—toward realizing transitional justice and restoring dignity to those who have long been denied it.
“Over 5,000 victims from 17 districts directly impacted by post-election atrocities.”
📌 Derived from annexed affidavits and case descriptions in the 2006 PIL.
“Hundreds of Hindu women raped or assaulted — yet the State failed to register cases or arrest perpetrators.”
📌 Highlights state inaction and impunity – 2006 PIL.
“State of Bangladesh in the countenance of genocidal crime against minorities”
📌 Highlights state inaction and impunity – 2023 PIL.
“In many villages, Hindu women were dragged out of their homes, stripped, and gang raped in front of their families while the local police remained silent spectators.”
“The scale and nature of the violence were unparalleled — likened to atrocities in Poland during World War II. Such acts, if unaddressed, risk branding Bangladesh as a barbaric nation before the world.”
Advocate Morshed, Shahabuddin Commission proceedings (2014) on the wave of terror unleashed by BNP and Jamaat in the aftermath of the 2001 election.
Landmark Public Interest Litigations by HRCBM
Status: Legal Notice Served | Petition in PreparationToggle Content
The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) is initiating a significant legal challenge addressing the recurring and widespread pattern of sexual violence, including mass rape and gang rape, used as a tool of communal intimidation and persecution against minority women and girls in Bangladesh.
This upcoming Public Interest Litigation (PIL) emerges from ground-level investigations revealing:
Systemic failures in law enforcement responses,
Deliberate cover-ups or refusals to file FIRs,
Judicial delay or apathy, especially when perpetrators belong to majority communities or have political backing.
Despite direct testimonies from survivors and families, many cases remain uninvestigated, unprosecuted, or suppressed under pressure — fueling impunity and retraumatizing victims.
This PIL will seek:
Court directives for independent investigation bodies in sexual violence cases affecting minorities.
Accountability mechanisms for police inaction or bias during initial complaint registration.
Special victim protection protocols and legal aid for survivors.
Monitoring by the NHRC or UN-affiliated observers, where appropriate, to ensure due process.
While the petition is under legal review, HRCBM has already served legal notice and continues to provide legal, emotional, and advocacy support to victims and families.
⚖️ We believe that no society can claim justice when the bodies of its daughters are turned into battlegrounds.
HRCBM remains unwavering in its pursuit of justice for victims of gendered violence — no matter how delayed, silenced, or denied.
📩 Legal professionals, allies, and rights defenders wishing to support this initiative are encouraged to contact: info@hrcbm.org
Status: Legal Notice Served | Petition in Preparation
The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) is preparing a landmark legal initiative addressing the alarming rise of false and mass criminal accusations disproportionately targeting minority communities in Bangladesh.
Following a detailed fact-finding effort, HRCBM has documented a disturbing trend in which First Information Reports (FIRs) have been used to indiscriminately name hundreds of individuals — often without individual investigation or substantiated cause. These patterns point to a systemic misuse of legal procedures that risk criminalizing entire communities and undermining access to justice.
This upcoming Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeks to:
Urge institutional safeguards against the abuse of FIR mechanisms,
Promote accountability for law enforcement officers complicit in malicious prosecution,
Advocate for redress and compensation for victims of proven false cases,
Encourage independent and transparent monitoring of investigations affecting vulnerable groups.
While the full petition is currently under legal review, HRCBM remains committed to upholding constitutional rights and pursuing judicial remedies against state-enabled persecution. This initiative builds on two decades of legal advocacy and reinforces our unwavering belief that justice, even when delayed, must not be denied.
🕊️ HRCBM continues to call for support from legal professionals, civil society partners, and international observers in advancing justice and accountability in Bangladesh.
In early 2023, HRCBM filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh documenting a coordinated pattern of genocidal attacks against Hindus, Buddhists, and other minorities. The petition presented evidence of mass violence, forced conversions, sexual violence, and state inaction, arguing that these acts met the threshold of crimes against humanity.
The PIL urged the Court to direct an independent investigation, ensure protection of vulnerable communities, and initiate legal reforms to prevent recurring communal persecution. It also called for a Truth Commission and international cooperation to support transitional justice in Bangladesh.
In 2021, the High Court issued a suo motu rule following media reports and a third-party legal intervention on attacks against Hindu communities during Durga Puja. The case raised critical constitutional questions on minority rights, law enforcement failures, and preventive state obligations.
Although this litigation was not directly filed by HRCBM, the issues addressed align with our ongoing advocacy for minority protections. The case reflects growing judicial recognition of the urgent need to address communal violence.
🧾 View Full Writ (PDF)
In 2008, HRCBM filed a landmark Public Interest Litigation challenging the constitutionality and discriminatory enforcement of the Vested Property Act, which had long been used to dispossess minority Hindu families of their ancestral lands. The Supreme Court issued a favorable ruling, declaring the provisions inconsistent with the right to equality and directing legislative reform.
Despite this historic verdict, the subsequent Awami League government not only failed to implement the Court’s directives but passed a Re-Appeal Act that diluted the spirit of the ruling. Thousands of minority families remain dispossessed, with no restitution.
HRCBM continues to advocate for full implementation of the judgment and restoration of justice to the victims.
Following post-election attacks on Hindu minorities in 2001–2002, HRCBM filed a landmark Public Interest Litigation before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The petition documented state complicity in large-scale arson, rape, looting, and forced displacement.
Representing thousands of victims, this PIL demanded state accountability, judicial intervention, and protection of fundamental rights. Though the Court issued some directions, successive governments failed to enforce them, deepening the culture of impunity.
🧾 View Full Writ (PDF)
