Violence during Oct 28 BNP rally: HRW calls for freeing arrested leaders

Staff Reporter :
Amid the unrest in the political landscape and the ongoing movement of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for freeing the political prisoners and urging the international partners to discontinue business with Bangladesh.

HRW on Wednesday said the Bangladesh government is ignoring international calls for restraint and its own pledges to hold a peaceful, free, and fair election planned for January 2024, but the election cannot be deemed fair when opposition is targeted, tortured, and behind bars.

“Many Bangladeshis say they have been fearing an escalation in violence because of the government crackdown on the political opposition in an attempt to subvert participation and voting,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Bangladesh’s international partners should insist that elections cannot be considered fair when the opposition is targeted, harassed, and behind bars,” she said.

Witnesses have accused the Bangladesh police of unnecessary use of force during political protests on October 28, 2023, it further.

Although violence was committed on all sides, the events were part of a continuing police crackdown on the political opposition.

At least 11 people, including two police officers, were killed, and hundreds injured during the October 28 events and during the ongoing violence that has followed.

The Awami League-led government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has arrested thousands of opposition members, including BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and sealed the party offices.

The government has increasingly carried out arbitrary mass arrests over the last year in what appears to be a coordinated effort to stifle the opposition ahead of the elections.

During the clashes on October 28, both Awami League and BNP supporters engaged in violence, injuring hundreds including dozens of journalists. Both parties have denied their involvement.

While the authorities blame the BNP for the violence, the BNP has accused the government of infiltrating the gathering to initiate violence and discredit what they said was a peaceful movement.

Political party leaders should call on their supporters to campaign peacefully, Human Rights Watch said.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called on “all political actors to make clear that such violence is unacceptable and to avoid any statements or actions that could constitute incitement to violence.”

Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that the police excessively shot rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd.

The government should publicly order the security forces to abide by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials while responding to violent protests.

At least 1,500 opposition members were arrested in the days leading up to the rally and BNP leaders said that the authorities raided party members’ homes.

The police also set up checkpoints around Dhaka, the capital, and arrested opposition activists traveling to participate in the October 28 rally.

According to the opposition, nearly 5,000 party leaders and activists have been arrested since similar protests took place in July, while tens of thousands have been accused in hundreds of additional cases.

“Prisons are overrun with our party leaders,” BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a news conference on October 26.

The mass arrests appear to reflect orders from police officials to systematically arrest and convict opposition members so that they would be disqualified from participating in the national election.

Trials are apparently continuing late into the night to ramp up these efforts and, according to the BNP, at least 50 people have already been convicted.

Some detainees have alleged that they were tortured. Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, a BNP leader, told the media that the police beat him while he was detained.

Home Minister Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal denied the allegations, saying that Chowdhury had lied about the torture to draw attention from the court.

Human Rights Watch said that all allegations of torture and other abuse of detainees should be thoroughly and independently investigated, and those responsible should be held to account.