A group of UN Special Rapporteurs and mandate holders issued Joint Allegation Letters to the government of Bangladesh and Lama Rubber Industries, raising concerns over human rights violations against Indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The letters follow a joint report submitted to the UN Special Rapporteurs by the UNPO and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) highlighting the ongoing pattern of land grabbing and human rights abuses in the Bandarban District.
The CHT, a region in Bangladesh, has long been marked by violence rooted in ethnic tensions, land disputes, and struggle over autonomy. Indigenous communities in the CHT have long faced ongoing human rights violations, including land grabbing, arbitrary detentions, forced evictions, and environmental destruction. One of the most significant recent examples of these violations is the case involving Lama Rubber Industries Ltd., a private corporation operating rubber plantations in the Bandarban district. Since 2022, the company, supported by state security forces, has led the encroachment of land belonging to Indigenous communities, leading to devastating human and environmental consequences. Resistance of community leaders and human rights defenders has been met with threats, criminalisation, and often violent repression. Most notably, Mr. Ringrong Mro, an Indigenous environmental defender, was arrested without a warrant on 22 February 2025 in Lama Upazila, Bandarban, based on a 2022 complaint by Lama Rubber Industries Ltd. Mro and other community members were accused of “unlawful assembly and mischief by fire or explosive substance” during protests against the Company’s encroachment on the community’s ancestral land. He was detained in Bandarban District Jail and released on 28 March 2025. Rights groups have raised concerns over the arrest and detention.
The Special Procedures express deep concern over the growing trend of legal persecution, including the criminalisation of human rights defenders and Indigenous community leaders in the CHT. In the JAL addressed to Bangladesh, they emphasise that such actions could seriously hinder human rights advocacy in the region.
The JAL further highlighted serious concern over the arbitrary arrest of local leader Ringrong Mro, as the complaint that led to his arrest was lodged by a private company accused of land grabbing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The timing and motive of this arrest raise troubling questions as the encroachment directly violates the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accords, a peace agreement signed in 1997 guaranteeing the autonomy and rights of Indigenous peoples over the land. In this light, the Special Procedures call on the Government of Bangladesh to, inter alia, take the necessary steps to ensure that businesses under its jurisdiction respect their human rights obligations and guarantee the protection of environmental and land human rights defenders, enabling them to carry out their work in a safe and supportive environment.
In a separate letter addressed to Lama Rubber Industries, UN Human Rights Mandate Holders raise serious concerns about land grabbing practices, forced evictions, and threats and intimidations. They notably highlight the encroachment of 3,500 acres of land—in violation of the CHT Accords—as well as the threats to Indigenous communities through water contamination, the hiring of outside labourers to forcibly occupy Indigenous lands, and the setting of fires on farming land. As a result, local communities have faced food and water shortages which were not able to be relieved by humanitarian efforts.
The Special Procedures urges the Lama Rubber Industries to take adequate measures to respect due diligence obligations, and “mitigate and remedy the adverse human rights impact” of its activities with respect to Indigenous communities affected by land conflicts. It importantly acknowledges that “previous land acquisitions and leases without the consent of Indigenous peoples were unjust and that the land should be returned to its rightful owners.”
The letters were issued by the following UN Special Rapporteurs and Working Group experts, each acting under their respective mandates:
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Vice-Chair on Communications of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
- Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
The UNPO welcomes the JALs as a necessary step towards accountability, particularly in addressing the ongoing violations of Indigenous rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Land encroachment—carried out without the free, prior, informed consent of Indigenous communities—threatens their culture and livelihoods, and constitutes a clear violation of the 1997 Peace Accords, which committed the Government of Bangladesh to protect Indigenous land rights and recognize their distinct identity. These encroachments undermine the very foundations of the Accord, which was aimed at restoring ethnic peace and laying the groundwork for a more inclusive and peaceful society. We therefore call on the Government of Bangladesh to uphold its commitments under the Accord and ensure full protection of Indigenous peoples in line with both national obligations and international human rights law.
The UNPO will continue to bring attention to these concerns in international forums and advocate for meaningful action to address the challenges faced by the Chittagong Hill Tracts communities.
