The Canadian and Swiss governments and 27 more human rights organisations have expressed their concerns over the two-year jail sentences of two officials of the rights group Odhikar, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan.

On Sunday night, the Canadian Office of Human Rights, Freedoms, and Inclusion wrote on their social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that the prosecution of Odhikar leaders was a deeply concerning setback for freedom of expression and civil society in Bangladesh.

Canada is committed to supporting the vital work of human rights defenders worldwide, it concluded.

The Dhaka Cyber Tribunal on September 14 jailed Adilur and Elan for two years each for a fact-finding report on violence and overnight operations during the Hefazat-e-Islam demonstrations on May 5-6, 2013.

Judge AM Julfikar Hayat also fined them Tk 10,000 each in the case filed with the Gulshan police in 2013 under Section 57(2) of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006.

Sharing the UN’s September 5 letter on legal harassment of human rights defenders and civil society leaders, Swiss Peace and Human Rights under the Human Rights Division within Swiss Foreign Affairs on their X handle also said that the jailing of Adilur and Elan violated the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.

Swiss Peace and Human Rights echoed the call of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, to ensure those rights.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, better known as FORUM-ASIA, on Monday, alongside its member organisations, expressed its unwavering solidarity for prominent Bangladeshi human rights defenders Adilur and Elan.

‘We are deeply concerned over their recent conviction to two years in prison, along with a fine, by the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal’.

Adil and Elan, through their exemplary work at Odhikar, a watchdog for civil and political rights abuses in Bangladesh, have diligently documented human rights violations in the country, the statement read, adding that these violations include cases of extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and violence against women and minorities.

Since 2013, Odhikar and its staffers, notably Adilur and Elan, have been facing relentless ‘judicial harassment’ following the publication of a report documenting the ‘extrajudicial killings’ of 61 people in an overnight crackdown on protesters.

Subsequently, Adilur and Elan endured arbitrary detentions, lasting 62 and 25 days, respectively, before their release on bail.

It said Odhikar vehemently rejected these charges and called for an independent probe commission to seek justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings.

Over the years, Odhikar, alongside Adilur and Elan, became the target of various smear campaigns and criticism for their human rights advocacy.

‘FORUM-ASIA is in solidarity with Adil and Elan. They have devoted their lives to the pursuit of justice and the protection of human rights in Bangladesh. Following a decade of unwarranted harassment, their sentencing sends a chilling message to all human

rights defenders in Bangladesh and beyond,’ said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, the executive director of FORUM-ASIA.

‘FORUM-ASIA calls upon the Government of Bangladesh to drop all charges and promptly release Adil and Elan. Holding these two distinguished defenders in detention only serves to further tarnish Bangladesh’s already compromised international reputation. We urge the government to uphold its international obligations to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders.

‘We implore the authorities to respect the rights of human rights defenders and ensure they can continue their work without fear of persecution and reprisals,’ it said.

The signatories of the joint statement, among others, were the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in the Philippines, Bytes for All in Pakistan, the Centre for Human Rights and Development in Mongolia, the Human Rights Measurement Initiative in New Zealand, the Maldivian Democracy Network, People’s Watch in India, and Think Centre in Singapore.

Earlier, the United States, United Nations rights bodies, the British government, the European Union, the French and German embassies in Dhaka, and numerous citizen rights groups and human rights activists at home and abroad condemned the jail sentences of Adilur and Elan.