Bangladesh
Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Overview
According to the data collected by the UN High
Commissioner of Human Rights, there were at
least 2,000 people on death row in Bangladesh in
June 2022. Bangladesh retains the death penalty for
33 offences, including murder, violent robbery,
terrorism, rape, sedition, and drug trafficking. It
can also apply for certain attempted crimes and
assault offences, not resulting in death. The
mandatory death penalty applies to those who
commit murder for a dowry payment under the
Women and Children Repressive Prevention Act
2000 or for those who commit murder while
already sentenced to life imprisonment.
In December 2018, Bangladesh introduced the
death penalty for non-lethal drug offences under
the Narcotics Control Act.
The International Federation for Human Rights
notes that 75% of capital offences (25 out of 33) in
Bangladesh are ‘non-lethal’, which is a violation of
International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR).
Between 2018-2022, Amnesty International
estimate that at least 13 people were executed in
Bangladesh and 912 people were sentenced to
death. The state method of execution is by hanging.
International human rights watchdogs have
reported that multiple death sentences have been
imposed in Bangladesh without meeting
international fair trial standards. For instance, in
2021 alone, 33 death sentences were imposed
without the defendant being present.
A study by the University of Dhaka highlights that
three-quarters of death row prisoners come from
socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds,
are the sole earners in their family, and have not
been educated beyond school level due to family
poverty.
Death row prisoners are reportedly kept in
prolonged and isolated detention, without adequate
access to family visits or legal
representation. Research has also shown the use of
torture in investigations to elicit false confessions.
A study by Dr Carolyn Hoyle and Saul Lehrfreund
(2019) found that sentencing judges in Bangladesh
recognised and defended the use of torture in
investigations as a ‘necessary evil’ to serve the
greater good of deterrence instilled by the death
penalty, despite no evidence to sustain this belief.