Amnesty urges PM to end crackdown

Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnès Callamard in an open letter has called for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to cease the ongoing crackdown on protesters.
She also urged the premier to cooperate with the United Nations to conduct a thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigation into the deaths and injuries that resulted from the clampdown.
Amnesty's findings point to unlawful use of birdshot against student protesters, dangerous use of tear gas in enclosed student spaces and unrestrained use of AK-pattern assault rifles by security forces.
Ms Callamard also points to violence unleashed by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling party, first against unarmed and peaceful protesters at Dhaka University and then against injured students at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
What is more, the wholesale arrest and arbitrary detention of student demonstrators has further perpetuated a climate of fear.
All the people detained or arrested solely for exercising their right to protest peacefully must be released unconditionally, the rights groups said in a statement late Tuesday.

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