Binay Krishno Mallick
Binay Krishno Mallick is a human rights defender who works on a wide range of issues including anti-corruption and anti-trafficking in Bangladesh. He is the Executive Director of Rights Jessore, a well-known human rights organisation dedicated to preventing human trafficking and providing support to its victims. The organisation is very vocal on human rights issues and its members have repeatedly faced issues with the administration, local police and recruiting agencies. In April 2016, a local police station in Jessore blacklisted Binay Krishno Mallick and displayed a photo of him claiming that he was a human trafficker and money launderer, after his organisation arranged a press conference on behalf of victims of land grabbing. Binay Krishno Mallick is also the publisher and editor of the local newspaper Daily Telegram.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) in Bangladesh endure judicial harassment, arbitrary arrest, fabricated charges, abduction, physical attacks, torture and extrajudicial killings. Human rights violations against HRDs are committed by both state and non-state actors including corporations, impunity remains one of the most serious issues of concern, particularly as fatal attacks on human rights defenders and journalsits become increasingly common.
Police and armed gangs have assaulted dozens of journalists in recent years. In 2012 alone, three journalists were murdered and 19 were physically attacked. Female journalists have been particularly vulnerable: many of them have been sexually harassed and assaulted, including at the workplace. In the vast majority of cases, these violations went unpunished. In the first eight months of 2015, four bloggers were killed. One of the victims had previously expressed fear of an attack, and said his reports of threats were ignored by police.
