Expressing its concern over the government's recent stance on use of law enforcing agencies, the Amnesty International (AI) has said such a move would further worsen the ongoing violent political situation in Bangladesh.
It referred to media reports quoting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as saying: "as the head of the government I'm giving [the police] the liberty to take any action wherever and whenever it will be deemed necessary" to stop the arson attacks that have already resulted in more than two dozen deaths."
"Remarks like these carry a high risk of being seen as an open invitation for the police to use unnecessary and excessive force against demonstrators or even to carry out extrajudicial executions - which Bangladeshi security forces carried out with appalling frequency in the past," said Abbas Faiz, AI's Bangladesh Researcher.
"The Bangladeshi authorities risk exacerbating an already violent situation by giving police carte blanche (blank card) to use excessive force in response to a recent wave of horrific petrol bomb attacks amid ongoing violent political protests," the AI said in a statement.
The AI issued the statement following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's order to the police to take whatever steps necessary to stop the ongoing violence in the country while she was addressing an evaluation meeting with senior police officials at the International Conference Room of her
office, marking the Police Week 2015.
Referring to international human rights law, it said such a law protects the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, but the manner in which the BNP-led protests are being carried out clearly shows a repeated pattern of violence being used for a political purpose.
"The Bangladesh Nationalist Party should exhort their members and supporters to stop these politically-motivated criminal acts, which should be dealt with in fair procedures under the criminal law," said Mr Abbas Faiz.
He called upon all parties to publicly denounce acts of politically-motivated violence and encourage their supporters to cooperate in any investigation aimed at bringing the perpetrators to justice.
The AI statement said more than a dozen people had been killed in recent operations by the police, including the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite special force accused of numerous human right violations in the past. Ten of the recent deaths occurred in what the police termed "shootouts" between January 12 and 28, the report added.
"These deaths during police operations - some of which may amount to extrajudicial executions - must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible brought to justice. The security forces have a duty to maintain law and order, but that does not place them above the law and it is never an excuse to resort to excessive use of force," said Mr Abbas Faiz.
The AI explained under international law and standards police may use only what force is strictly necessary and proportionate in a given situation; they must at all times respect the right to life and take steps to minimise the risk of injury and death. Intentional lethal use of firearms is permissible only if strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.
Regarding protests and petrol bombs, it said in recent weeks, the human rights situation in Bangladesh had seen a sharp fall as supporters of the government and the opposition clashed on the streets of Dhaka and other major cities. Thousands of protesters were arrested. Most of them had been released but hundreds were believed to be still in detention.
More than two dozen people had been killed and hundreds injured, some seriously, when opposition supporters had thrown petrol bombs at buses and vehicles since January 05 when the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) enforced their transport blockade in the country, the AI statement mentioned.
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