The Bangladesh government has deployed the army against the protesting students, imposed shoot-on-sight curfew orders, and shut down mobile data and internet services to target unarmed students in Bangladesh, said the Human Rights Watch on Tuesday.
The HRW also said that with more than 160 people killed, foreign governments should immediately call on prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her administration to end the use of excessive force against protesters and hold troops to account for human rights abuses.
鈥楤angladesh has been troubled for a long time due to unfettered security force abuses against anyone who opposes the Sheikh Hasina government, and we are witnessing that same playbook again, this time to attack unarmed student protesters,鈥� said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at the HRW.
Urging the influential governments to press Sheikh Hasina to stop her forces from brutalising students and other protesters, Meenakshi mentioned that Sheikh Hasina, who won a fourth consecutive term after January elections that were not free or fair, had previously imposed and then withdrawn the quota.聽
The UN Human Rights Council had said in a 2016 consensus resolution that shutting the internet to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online violates international human rights law, and that all countries should refrain from and cease such measures.
The authorities repeatedly deny that Bangladeshi security forces have committed serious human rights violations, including the extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, leading to a climate of impunity, said the HRW, adding that the Sheikh Hasina government should take immediate steps to protect the rights of protesting students.
In a separate statement, the CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, on Tuesday called on the Bangladesh government to end immediately the brutal violence and excessive use of forces against the quota reform protesters.
Instead of engaging with the students, members of the ruling Awami League-backed Chhatra League began attacking the students of Dhaka University, armed with rods, sticks, and clubs, it said, adding that many female students were also assaulted during the attack.
These actions further escalated the protests across the country, and the police violently repressed protestors using unnecessary and disproportionate force. There were reports of the use of firearms, tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, and shotgun pellets to disperse protesters.
鈥楾he Bangladeshi security forces must show restraint immediately and end its use of violence against protesters,鈥� said Rajavelu Karunanithi, CIVICUS advocacy and campaigns officer for Asia, calling for an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the serious human rights violations committed by the security forces as well as members of Bangladesh Chhatra League during the protests and to ensure perpetrators are held to account.
He also said that these actions were inconsistent with Bangladesh鈥檚 international human rights obligations.
The authorities must immediately release all peaceful protesters and ensure they are not ill-treated while detained,鈥� added Karunanithi, mentioning that they must also ensure that the right to freedom of expression and access to information is not restricted.
