In September a court sentenced 28 men to prison terms of between six months and two years after convicting them on “debauchery” and “obscenity” charges for attending a private party at which some wore female clothes. In November, an appeal court reduced their sentences to between one and three months. WOMEN’S RIGHTS Women faced discrimination in law and practice. In May, Parliament agreed to abolish Article 353 of the Penal Code, which had allowed rapists to avoid a prison sentence if their victim consented to marry them. MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS Migrant workers continued to face exploitation and abuse by employers. In July, more than 2,000 migrant workers participated in a peaceful march to protest against non-payment of their salaries by employers. DEATH PENALTY The death penalty remained in force. The courts did not hand down new death sentences but the Court of Cassation confirmed two and overturned four death sentences passed in previous years, three of which were later re-imposed by the court of appeal. There were no executions. BANGLADESH People’s Republic of Bangladesh Head of state: Abdul Hamid Head of government: Sheikh Hasina Armed groups claiming to act in the name of Islam killed dozens of people in targeted attacks, including foreign nationals, secular activists and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The government’s response was marked by human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment. The 80 right to freedom of expression was further restricted as the government applied repressive laws and pressed criminal charges against critics. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Independent media outlets and journalists came under severe pressure by the government. Several journalists faced arbitrary criminal charges, often for publishing criticism of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her family or the Awami League Government. Journalists reported increased threats from government officials or security agencies. In February, more than 80 sedition and defamation cases were brought against Mahfuz Anam, editor of the newspaper Daily Star. The charges related to his admission that he had, under pressure from military intelligence, published unsubstantiated corruption allegations against Sheikh Hasina when she was out of government during the military rule of the 1990s. All charges were stayed by the High Court but the prosecution could reactivate them in the future. In April, 82-year-old journalist and opposition supporter Shafik Rehman was arrested on suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to “kill and kidnap” the Prime Minister’s son, Joy Wazed. After being held for more than four months without charge, including several weeks in solitary confinement, he was released on bail in August. The government continued to use a range of repressive laws to restrict the right to freedom of expression extensively. It increasingly used the Information and Communications Technology Act which arbitrarily restricted online expression. The human rights organization Odhikar reported at least 35 arrests under the Act, compared to 33 in 2015 and 14 in 2014. Journalists, activists and others were targeted. Dilip Roy, a student activist, was one of those arrested, in September, for criticizing the Prime Minister on Facebook. He was released on bail on 17 November. In October, parliament adopted the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Amnesty International Report 2016/17