The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Bangladesh government to publicly order security forces to avoid using lethal or excessive force when dealing with protesters.
The international human rights organisation in a statement released in its website on Tuesday also called upon the leaders of all political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), to keep their supporters from engaging in violence.
The HRW suggested the government to form an independent commission to carry out prompt, effective, and impartial investigations into the recent violence and hold all those responsible to account.
“Security forces appear to have stepped up operations against the opposition in recent days. Jamaat supporters have attacked police posts, government buildings, ruling party activists, and Hindu communities,” said the statement.
Referring to the media reports the HRW said Bangladesh security forces have killed at least 20 opposition members during clashes and have arrested many more.
“Security forces and opposition militants are engaged in a vicious cycle of attacks that are leading to death, destruction, and fear,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW. “Jamaat and others in the opposition may have legitimate reasons to hold protests, but that is no excuse for the appalling levels of violence by their supporters.”
“Bangladesh security forces and political parties have a long history of turning their members loose for political purposes, seemingly indifferent to the loss of life that results,” Adams said. “Most victims are ordinary citizens who have absolutely no involvement in politics, and political leaders should tell their supporters to stop endangering lives.”
The statement mentioned that more than 100 people have been killed and hundreds injured in the past two months since the political crisis in Bangladesh began over upcoming elections and the conduct of war crimes trials.
The crisis worsened following the December 12 execution of a leader of the Jamaat party, Abdul Quader Mollah, who was found guilty of war crimes during Bangladesh’s independence war in 1971.
The statement said the Bangladeshi authorities are obligated to impartially investigate violence by protesters and the unlawful use of force by security forces, and to prosecute those responsible for carrying out or ordering such acts.
In the past, it mentioned that the government has taken no action, even in cases of well-documented unlawful killings by the security forces during protests.
The HRW said the government should publicly order the security forces to follow the UN basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials, which state that security forces shall “apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms.”
“Whenever the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved and minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life,” the statement added.
The HRW regretted that children have been killed and injured in the violence, including by picking up stray homemade grenades. – Staff Reporter
