Amnesty questions use of force against protesters

Bangladeshi authorities have used unlawful force against student protesters and failed to ensure their protection during the ongoing 'Bangla Blockade' demanding quota reform, said Amnesty International.
Witness testimonies, video and photographic evidence analysed and authenticated by the global rights body and its crisis evidence lab confirmed the use of force by the police against protesters.
The Amnesty International said this in a statement early Thursday.
Further testimonies confirmed the continuation of a multi-year pattern of violence against protesters, allegedly committed by the Bangladesh Chhatra League, a group linked with the ruling party, it alleged.
"Amnesty International strongly condemns the killing of student Abu Sayed and the attacks against quota-reform protesters at Dhaka University and on other campuses…," said Taqbir Huda, regional researcher for South Asia.
Bangladesh authorities must fully respect people's right to freedom of peaceful assembly in line with its commitments under international law and its own Constitution and protect protesters from further harm.
At least 18 people were killed and thousands injured in the last three days across the country till Thursday.
Eyewitnesses told the Amnesty International that the protests were entirely peaceful before individuals from the BCL started attacking them on 15 July.
They claimed to have identified BCL members coming out of multiple residential halls at Dhaka University, particularly the Surya Sen and Bijoy Ekattor halls, armed with rods, sticks and clubs with a few even brandishing revolvers.
The description of the violence against protesters is consistent with that previously documented by the Amnesty International in 2023.
It has verified videos of students being attacked on the streets and inside hospitals, which corroborated the witness accounts.
A video verified by the Amnesty International shows men waving their weapons while attempting to enter the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on 15 July.
It used satellite imagery to geolocate the positions of Sayed and the police officers and found that they were at a distance of about 15 metres during the shooting.
Also, Sayed posed no apparent physical threat to the police. His death certificate states he was 'brought dead' to the hospital.
Amnesty International considers the use of birdshot to be absolutely inappropriate and it should never be used in the policing of protest.
Shotgun-fired cartridges containing metal pellets (including birdshot or buckshot designed for hunting) can penetrate the skin causing serious injury.
Their use has been associated with deaths and multiple cases of blinding in Egypt, India and Iran.

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