Bawm Prisoners IAR Case

Written by Jerry Allen, Country Coordinator for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

Since April 2024, 126 Indigenous Bawm people, including 30 women and children, have been arbitrarily arrested as part of an ongoing military operation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeastern Bangladesh.  They have been in prison for more than a year on trumped-up charges.  Of those who weren’t arrested, many have now fled to jungle areas near the villages or out of the country. The entire Bawm nation is being blamed for the actions of an armed group. They are caught in the crossfire between the Bangladesh Military and Kuki-Chin National Front.  Amnesty International has been calling for the immediate release of all civilians who have been arbitrarily arrested and an end to the crackdown against the Bawm community.

A delegation of Indigenous leaders from across Bangladesh met with the Interim government in September 2024, and urged the release of innocent Bawm women, children, and others, but to no effect.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) in a statement to mark the anniversary of the arrests expressed solidarity with the Indigenous Bawm: “Given that the CHT is effectively a military-controlled area, there has been a media blackout regarding the human rights situation of the Bawm community…  The safety situation for the Bawm continues to deteriorate exponentially.  We urge the duty-bearers in Bangladesh to immediately set the innocent Bawn women and children free and compensate them for their unjust suffering.”

On 15 May 2025, one of the Bawm prisoners died in jail due to lack of treatment, and another Bawm is seriously ill, according to the CHT Commission.

Rani Yan Yan, a distinguished human rights defender and queen of the Chakma, has initiated a new campaign for the women and children that are still detained.  Here is her account from April 2025:

‘On 8th April 2024 a loudspeaker announced “Don't run away. The whole village has been surrounded.  Go to the primary school field.”  All the villagers gathered in the field, including women, children and elderly and were kept under the sun for four hours. They were arrested and sent to Bandarban jail.

This news will not be found in our media. Investigative journalism is not allowed in the Chittagong Hills.

The army has imposed a collective punishment on the entire Bawm nation of Bandarban for terrorist activity by an armed organization called Kuki Chin National Front.  Women and children were jailed for a bank robbery after the army had failed to suppress KNF.

30 Bawm women and children are held in Bandarban and Chittagong prison. The youngest child was only one and a half months old when he entered jail and the oldest is 4 years.  Four little children are growing up in prison.  A Bawm woman who was eight-month pregnant was also arrested. Just a few days before giving birth to a child, she was released after pressure. Bail applications have been filed multiple times by Bawm women including three children.

The interim government has taken no action to release the Bawm women and children.  They are detained without any specific evidence but as part of the collective punishment of the Bawm nation.

The Chief Advisor, the Home Advisor, the Hill Advisor, the Law Advisor and the Women and Child Advisor have all been informed of this issue. They were told within a week of the formation of the interim.  I also presented this topic at the Chief Advisor meeting with Women Rights Activists on 20^th August. After eight months there is no preparation for their release. 

How long will the human rights of Bawm women and children be held in jail without blame? I want a cure for this injustice against Bawm women and children. I want unconditional freedom of Bawm women and children.’

The Bawm Prisoner IAR Case needs your support.  For further information please contact jerry.allen@amnesty.org.uk