A poster exhibition highlighting various human rights violations by Bangladesh’s interim government was held in Geneva, Switzerland.From June 30 to July 2, during the ongoing 59th regular session of the Human Rights Commission at the UN premises in Geneva, the Geneva-based human rights organizations International Forum for Secular Bangladesh, Bangladesh Minority Alliance, and Tamaku Development and Cultural Union jointly organized this three-day poster exhibition on the crimes against humanity and horrific human rights violations currently taking place in Bangladesh.
The exhibition featured a total of 30 posters depicting grave human rights abuses committed by the current regime over the past ten months.
The organizer of the exhibition, Geneva-based human rights activist Khalilur Rahman Mamun, said that considering the current human rights situation in Bangladesh, the exhibition aimed to build global awareness, and showcased 30 images across five categories depicting the extreme level of human rights violations.
A large number of foreign diplomats, thousands of international NGO workers, and hundreds of human rights activists attending the human rights session were visibly moved after seeing the posters depicting the ongoing human rights abuses under Bangladesh’s interim government.Pashtun community leader and human rights activist Fazlur Rahman Afridi closely observed the harrowing images of sexual violence against women. In a voice choked with tears, he said, “I have lost the words to express my feelings. Such brutal, barbaric torture is reminiscent of medieval atrocities repeating themselves in Bangladesh.
”He added that the head of Bangladesh’s interim government has disgraced the Nobel Peace Prize by sponsoring these horrific events, and stressed that it is urgently necessary to build global public opinion against such grave human rights violations.
Sylvain Thévoz, General Secretary of the Geneva chapter of the Socialist Party of Switzerland, expressed deep sympathy for the victims of mass atrocities in Bangladesh after visiting the exhibition. He stated that he would raise his concerns about the situation in Bangladesh during his party’s forum meetings.Claudia Wadelich, head of a Germany-based human rights organization, along with her five-member team, also visited the exhibition and expressed deep concern about the current human rights situation in Bangladesh.
Geneva-based human rights activist Elina Princess was deeply moved and visibly emotional after seeing the images of human rights violations in Bangladesh at the exhibition.Additionally, many other human rights activists and diplomats commented on the ongoing persecution of minorities and crimes against humanity in Bangladesh. They stated that after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the increasingly violent policies of the current interim government are pushing Bangladesh toward becoming a dysfunctional failed state on the brink of civil war.They noted that they are regularly observing on social media that many ordinary low- and middle-income citizens of Bangladesh are saying, “We were better off before,” meaning that ordinary people believe they were better off during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now reportedly in exile in India.
