- torture are also often subjected to threats and violence; whereas, despite the Law against Torture in 2013, guilty state agents continue to enjoy impunity;
- K. whereas in 2018 Bangladesh ranks 136 out of a total of 189 countries in the Gender Inequality Index of the United Nations Development Program; whereas sexual harassment and violence against women and girls continued in 2017; whereas, although the number of acid attacks has gradually declined since 2002, cases continue to be recorded;
- L. whereas Bangladesh has the fourth highest rate of child marriages in the world, with between 52% and 66% of Bangladeshi girls married at the age of 18; whereas the Government of Bangladesh pledged to reduce by one third the number of girls marrying between the ages of 15 and 18 by 2021, to eliminate marriages involving children under 15 by 2021, and to end marriages of children under the age of 18 by 2041; whereas on 2017 the Government of Bangladesh passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which introduces exceptions in ‘special cases’ or for the ‘best interests’ of the adolescent while failing to define such criteria or lay down a minimum age for such marriages;
- M. whereas both state and non-state agents continued to harass and arbitrarily detain LGBTI activists; whereas Section 377 of the Penal Code provides for prison sentences for "crimes against nature";
- N. whereas in Bangladesh the death penalty can be applied for multiple crimes, including robbery with violence, trafficking and possession of drugs, treason, espionage, or military crimes; whereas at least 1,465 people were sentenced to death by the end of 2017; whereas since 2014, the annual number of new death sentences has almost doubled, going from 142 convictions in 2014 to at least 273 in 2017; whereas in 2017, 6 people were executed;
- O. whereas since August 2017, nearly 700,000 Rohingya, fled extrajudicial killings, rape, torture and arson from Myanmar army, police or Buddhist paramilitary and sought refuge in Bangladesh; whereas about a million Rohingya and other minorities, including women and children, now reside in refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, and the massive increase in the number of refugees is overwhelming existing water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities;
- P. whereas Bangladesh and Myanmar have announced that they had reached a repatriation agreement for the 720,000 Rohingya refugees that will begin mid-November; whereas the UN has condemned the agreement which were not consulted with Rohingyas refugees nor with UNHCR; whereas Bangladesh has provided to Myanmar a list of 24,342 refugees “authorized” by Bangladesh for repatriation;
- Q. whereas after 5 years of Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in where 1134 people were killed and more than 2000 were injured the situation of garment workers in Bangladesh is still deeply worrying; whereas Bangladesh’s garment industry employs 2.5 million, 85% of whom are women, who receive lower wedges than their male counterparts, and are especially vulnerable to abuse; whereas since the deadly Rana Plaza collapse workers have continued to be killed and injured in over 100 smaller workplace incidents, but in absence of a national employment injury scheme they have largely remained uncompensated;
- R. whereas In May 2013, the five-year legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (the Accord) was signed between global apparel brands, retailers, and trade unions and during these years, the so-called Accord office held inspections in the Ready- Made Garment factories in Bangladesh;