Amnesty International in a statement on Thursday said that Bangladesh authorities have continued to use unlawful force against student protesters, amid six days of shutdown and communication restrictions, during the quota-reform protest across the country.
The rights body and its Crisis Evidence Lab verified videos of three incidents of unlawful use of lethal and less lethal weapons by law enforcement agencies while policing the protests.
The analysis found law enforcer鈥檚 abusive use of less-lethal weapons, failure to provide medical assistance to victims, dangerous use of tear gas and use of lethal firearms.
It urged the Bangladesh government and its agencies to respect the right to protest, to end this violent crackdown and immediately lift all communications restrictions.
It also demanded an independent and impartial investigation into all human rights violations committed by security forces, including the high death toll of protesters, and all those found responsible to be held fully accountable.聽聽
聽鈥楾he egregious human rights records of the Bangladeshi government and the Rapid Action Battalion, which has been deployed to police the protests, provides little reassurance that the protesters鈥� rights will be protected in the absence of active international monitoring with internet and communication restrictions still partially in place,鈥� said Deprose Muchena, a senior director at Amnesty International.
He added that victims of unlawful police use of force, including those who have been injured and family members of those who have been killed, must also receive full reparations from the state.
Nationwide internet access was partially restored on July 23rd after six days of complete shutdown amidst a volatile period marked by crackdown on protesters, the deployment of army, a curfew and the issuing of shoot-on-sight orders, the statement said.
It also said that the limited information coming out of the country has been an impediment to human rights monitoring.
Citing media reports, the statement said there have been 2,500 arrests and nearly 200 deaths and several thousand injuries since the protests turned deadly on July 16.
