When Bangladesh needs to prove that it has been listening to the concern about respecting human rights and uphold rule of law, it has done quite the opposite. The reactions coming from the United Nations’ human rights body, Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) and other international rights groups to the deregistration of Odhikar, a leading human rights organisation in Bangladesh, make it clear that no one believes this action is anything other than a punishment for the work it does. The refusal to renew Odhikar’s operating licence follows a letter sent to the OHCHR on May 12, in which the government accused the organisation of ‘disproportionate bias and prejudice against Bangladesh, in particular the ruling party Awami League’ and argued that the UN human rights mechanism should disqualify and shun it as a source of information.  The letter was written as an official response to a joint urgent appeal issued by the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, the Wo...