Hill Voice, 7 October 2025, International Desk: Three international rights organizations, FIAN International, International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHT Commission), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), and Minority Rights Group International (MRG) expressed their unequivocal condemnation of the recent surge in deadly violence targeting Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), perpetrated by military forces of the Government of Bangladesh and Bengali settlers. These acts constitute the peak of an escalating violence targeting Indigenous Peoples reflecting a pattern of systemic oppression, including the use of sexual violence as a weapon of terror and control.

In a press release, the said rights organizations mentioned that the surge of violence is emblematic of the entrenched impunity and institutional neglect that has persisted across successive governments, including the current interim administration. Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on 5 August 2024, up to the present, the CHT Commission secretariat has documented 8 incidents of rape (of which 5 cases of gang rape), 1 incident of murder following alleged rape, 7 cases of attempted rape, and 4 cases of sexual harassmenti.

In the latest incident of this nature, on 23 September 2025, a 12-year-old Jumma schoolgirl was reportedly gang-raped by three Bengali men, allegedly settlers in the CHT. In response, local Jumma students and youth networks organized a peaceful protest rally on 25 September and called for a demonstration march on the following day. However, on the night of 25 September, instead of taking actions to prosecute the alleged perpetrators, military personnel detained Ukyanu Marma, one of the Jumma student leaders organizing the protest, at gunpoint.

Following this, on the 26th, when Jumma youth started observing their planned protest demonstration peacefully, military personnel reportedly intervened and obstructed the gathering. On the 26th in the afternoon, Bengali settlers announced without justification that they would also hold a protest rally in Khagrachari against the so-called ‘attack on the army by Jumma youth occurred on the 26th’. And on the 27th, the settlers, without any provocation and in the presence of the army and the Border Guards (BGB), carried out coordinated attacks on the Jumma people in the Mahajon Para and Naran Khaiya areas of Khagrachari, severely injuring many Jumma individuals (at least two Jumma are in critical condition), destroyed and looted their property.

Consequently, the road blockade by the Jumma students and youth network was extended to the next day, 28 September 2025. On that day, at Ramsu Bazar of Guimara, a sub-district adjacent to the district headquarters of Khagrachari, in the presence of the military, Bengali settlers launched unprovoked attacks against the Jumma people. As members of the indigenous Jumma people attempted to protect their businesses and houses, the military opened fired on them, causing at least three reported Jumma deaths. Several more have been injured, and some may have subsequently succumbed to their injuries.

In the wake of the military gunfire and settlers’ attack, several Jumma-owned businesses and houses were burnt to ashes. Most concerning, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a press statement and blamed the Indigenous youth and wider Indigenous community for the unrest. The statement reportedly labelled the Jumma members as ‘terrorists’ and attributed responsibility for the violence, including the military shootings, to them.

It is evident that under de facto military rule and government-supported settler occupation, the Indigenous Peoples in the CHT continue to live under conditions that systematically deny their democratic and fundamental human rights, facing severe restrictions on their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expressions. For decades, in a context of entrenched judicial impunity, sexual violence against Indigenous women continues to be systematically used as a tool of intimidation and repression. These violations are not isolated. They are part of a broader campaign to dispossess Indigenous communities of their ancestral lands, dismantle their cultural integrity, and silence their voices.

Rights bodies stand in solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of the CHT and demanded and urged the interim Government to implement the following measures to end the ongoing pattern of systemic human rights violations and to ensure justice, accountability, and the protection of the rights of Indigenous communities:

• Ensure the immediate identification, arrest and judicial prosecution without delay of all individuals allegedly responsible for the rape that occurred on 23 September 2025.
• Ensure protection, psychological counseling and timely medical support for the victim.
• End the culture of impunity and the use of sexual violence as a tool of oppression against the Indigenous Peoples in CHT, by ensuring the prompt, impartial, and effective criminal investigation, prosecution, and sentencing of all perpetrators of rape, sexual violence, and unlawful killings in the CHT— including those affiliated with state security forces and Bengali settlers.
• Form an independent, impartial, and adequately mandated Commission of Inquiry in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956 to investigate the attack and killing of the Jumma, as well as the destruction of their businesses and properties. Such a commission would have all the powers of a civil court, including the authority to summon all concerned civil and military officials, enter all concerned premises, and examine necessary documents, and facilitate criminal proceedings in appropriate courts of law.
• Invite and fully cooperate with the United Nations and its relevant special procedure mandate holders to investigate this longstanding and continued pattern of human rights violations in the CHT, as was done in the context of the July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh. All restrictions on the entry of diplomats, international observers and other foreigners to the CHT should be lifted immediately and unconditionally, in line with principles of transparency, accountability, and international scrutiny.
• Immediately revoke the executive order known as ‘Operation Uttoron’, and take concrete steps to restore full civilian governance and a democratic environment in the CHT. All temporary military and security camps should be dismantled, with the exception of the six permanent military bases designated in the 1997 CHT Accord.
• Establish and deploy an ethnically representative police force in the region, incorporating both Indigenous Peoples and ethnic Bengalis, as expressly provided for in the Hill District Councils Acts of 1989 (Acts 19, 20 and 21 of 1989). Commensurately, clear directives must be issued to Bangladesh Army, BGB and other non-Police security forces instructing them to refrain from Interference in civil law and order functions.
• Promote the voluntary, safe, and dignified return or relocation of Bengali settlers from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to their places of origin or other suitable locations, in consultation with all affected communities and in accordance with human rights and humanitarian principles. Any state policies or practicesviii that hinder such processes should be reviewed and withdrawn to prevent the continuation of structural discrimination, deepen trust among communities, and reduce the risk of future violence or escalation of tensions.

Moreover, FIAN International, International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHT Commission), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), and Minority Rights Group International (MRG):

• Strongly urge the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations to put a temporary hold on recruitment of Bangladeshi security forces until they cease their occupation and human rights violations in CHT.
• Ask the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to establish a mechanism to independently investigate and monitor the human rights violations committed by the security forces in the CHT.