Police used lethal weapons against protesters: Amnesty
Amnesty International said it has found evidence of unlawful use of lethal and less lethal weapons by Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies to quell the quota reform protests.
“The limited information coming out of the country has been an impediment to human rights monitoring. Amnesty International has responded to the evolving situation through verification and analysis of available video and photographic evidence. Amnesty International and its Crisis Evidence Lab has verified videos of three incidents of unlawful use of lethal and less lethal weapons by law enforcement agencies while policing the protests,” said the Amnesty International.
Amnesty International’s senior director Deprose Muchena said, “The continued verification and analysis by Amnesty International of video and photographic evidence that is trickling out of Bangladesh provides a grim picture. The egregious human rights records of the Bangladeshi government and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which has been deployed to police the protests, provides little reassurance that the protesters’ rights will be protected in the absence of active international monitoring with internet and communication restrictions still partially in place.”
However, the Amnesty International said the limited information coming out of the country due to internet shutdown has been an impediment to human rights monitoring.
“Amnesty International urges the Government of Bangladesh and its agencies to respect the right to protest, end this violent crackdown and immediately lift all communications restrictions,” Deprose Muchena added.
The Amnesty International reports it verified videos of protests in Savar, BRAC University and DIT Road in Rampura.
“Firearms are not an appropriate tool for the policing of assemblies; they must only be used when strictly necessary to confront an imminent threat of death or serious injury,” reports Amnesty International.
“Authorities must immediately lift the shoot-on-sight orders, fully restore internet access across the country and end the use of army and paramilitary forces in the policing of protests. They must also guarantee that shoot-on-sight curfew orders and internet shutdowns will not be used in the future. These repressive measures are a deliberate attempt to crush both these protests and any future dissent,” said Deprose Muchena.
She 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 must be held fully accountable.