section_path: Government and politics/Human rights
section_name: Human rights
paragraph_text: Human rights
  
  Torture is banned by the Constitution of Bangladesh, but is rampantly used by Bangladesh's security forces. Bangladesh joined the Convention against Torture in 1998 and it enacted its first anti-torture law, the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, in 2013. The first conviction under this law was announced in 2020. Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience from Bangladesh have included Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Shahidul Alam. The widely criticized Digital Security Act was repealed and replaced by the Cyber Security Act in 2023. The repeal was welcomed by the International Press Institute.
  
  On International Human Rights Day in December 2021, the United States Department of Treasury announced sanctions on commanders of the Rapid Action Battalion for extrajudicial killings, torture, and other human rights abuses. Freedom House has criticised the government for human rights abuses, the crackdown on the opposition, mass media, and civil society through politicized enforcement. Bangladesh is ranked "partly free" in Freedom House's Freedom in the World report, but its press freedom has deteriorated from "free" to "not free" in recent years due to increasing pressure from the government. According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, the country has a hybrid regime: the third of four rankings in its Democracy Index. Bangladesh was ranked 96th among 163 countries in the 2022 Global Peace Index. According to National Human Rights Commission, 70% of alleged human-rights violations are committed by law-enforcement agencies.
  
  LGBT rights are frowned upon among social conservatives. Homosexuality is affected by Section 377 of the Penal Code of Bangladesh, which was originally enacted by the British colonial government. An underground LGBT scene is flourishing across the country. However, Bangladesh only recognises the local transgender and intersex community known as the Hijra, which is the most widely accepted LGBT group among poorer sections of society. Organized crime by the Hijra is growing, with blackmailing and extortion rackets operating on Grindr and resulting in theft, murder and kidnapping. According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 1,531,300 people are enslaved in Bangladesh, or roughly 1% of the population.