End unlawful use of force against protesters: Amnesty International

News Desk :
Bangladeshi authorities must urgently end the use of excessive force against protesters, Amnesty International said on Friday, after verifying evidence of reports of violent attacks against protesters and opposition party leaders during a sit-in protest organized by the country’s main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party on July 28 and July 29.
The international human rights organisation made the urge in a report posted on its website on Friday.

The eyewitnesses Amnesty International spoke to said that the protests were largely peaceful prior to the police attacking them, it said.
The Bangladesh National Party protest, which called for a caretaker government to be appointed before the elections in January 2024, was held at various entry points to Dhaka.
The protests ended with violent clashes with the police.

‘The videos and images that Amnesty International has verified shed light on the human rights violations by the Bangladeshi authorities. We call on the Government of Bangladesh to guarantee strict adherence to the law by the law enforcement agencies, as well as full respect for the people’s right to exercise their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, in order to avoid further harm to people’s physical integrity and possible escalation of this crisis,’ said Smriti Singh, interim Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

Amnesty International’s researchers and Crisis Evidence Lab reviewed 56 photos and 18 videos from the protests, and the organization also collected nine eyewitness testimonies to corroborate the findings.

A journalist at the Matuail protest site, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Amnesty International that the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters, even though they were only chanting slogans and sitting on the floor.
Another eyewitness, who was with the families protesting against enforced disappearances at the BNS Center market, told Amnesty International: ‘The police fired tear gas at protesters… As far as I could see, the protesters didn’t have any weapons with them.’

A video posted on Twitter, and geo-located by Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab, shows a crowd of people running from tear gas at the Institute of Child and Mother Health Hospital in Mutuail, Dhaka. At least five of them appear to be women. The video was filmed within the ground of the hospital, right at the entrance of one of its buildings.
Tear gas should not be deployed near or around a hospital. According to the United Nations guidelines on the use of less lethal weapons, police should minimize the incidental impact of the use of force on susceptible people, including older people, children, pregnant women and people suffering from illnesses, who may have difficulty escaping affected areas.
‘Police should not use tear gas, rubber bullets on peaceful protesters. The fact that the Bangladeshi police is resorting to using tear gas inside a hospital reveals their alarming disregard for international law. The police should always bear in mind the diversity of those participating in a public assembly and their varying means of escaping or avoiding exposure to tear gas,’ said Smriti Singh.