The Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based global rights watchdog, on Friday urged the Bangladesh government to immediately end the use of excessive force by security forces against protesters. The Rights watchdog also asked the government to appoint an independent commission to investigate the deaths of dozens of protesters, including children, since large-scale street protests began in February, and prosecute those responsible for unlawful killings and use of force.
“Security forces confronted with large groups of demonstrators have opened fire on crowds, and often without warning, killed unarmed protesters and bystanders,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at the Human Rights Watch.
“It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that such incidents do not occur again, and to replace officials who have failed to properly supervise forces under their control,” he added.
Eyewitness accounts obtained by the Human Rights Watch demonstrate that police, Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB),and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have shot live ammunition and rubber bullets into unarmed people, conducted arrests at will, and used other forms of excessive force during and after protests that began in February.
The use of lethal force has taken place in multiple locations in Dhaka as well as the northern and southern districts of the country.
The Human Rights Watch also called on opposition parties to condemn such incidents and take steps to deter their supporters from carrying out unlawful attacks, including on law enforcement officers or the people with different political views.
Eight police officers have been killed during the countrywide protests. The government has blamed the Jamaat-e-Islami party and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) for the killings.
The Rights watchdog has interviewed family members and obtained medical reports which describe entry and exit wounds consistent with the use of live ammunition. In most cases, protesters were shot in the head, chest or stomach. In at least six cases, the victims were children.
One witness to the shooting of his unarmed 17-year-old family member described what had taken place after he was shot while walking back from afternoon prayers: “I saw (him) on the ground, with blood coming from his head. I tried to drag his body to the side. It was the first time I had seen a dead body so I was in shock. They were still shooting, so I ran down the road. … When the RAB officers stopped shooting, they dragged (him) and flung him into the car,” the eyewitness said.
Most of the deaths occurred in the week after the February 28 verdict of the International War Crimes Tribunal (ICT) that sentenced Jamaat leader Delwar Hossein Sayeedi to death. The Human Rights Watch interviewed witnesses who described protests that broke out in cities and villages around the country. In some cases, they said the protesters had thrown brickbats and stones at security force barricades, and the police responded by firing.
-With The Independent input
