Staff Correspondent

The UN rights office report reviewed the police and other security force’s role during the 2024 uprising dedicating a chapter on the issue saying they used force causing “systematic and widespread extrajudicial killings as part of a coordinated strategy of repression”.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which released the report at its Geneva headquarters yesterday, said the vast majority of the estimated 1,400 people killed in violence during the uprising were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces.

“Based on the material before it, OHCHR has reasonable grounds to believe that police and paramilitary state security forces resorted to use of force violations against protesters, including systematic and widespread extrajudicial killings as part of a coordinated strategy of repression,” it read.

The chapter titled “Use of force violations by Police, RAB and BGB, including extrajudicial killings” described in details the expected role of police and law enforcement agents in handling protests under the international human rights law.

“The use of force and firearms by the Police and the RAB and BGB paramilitary forces during the period of 15 July and 5 August systematically failed to adhere to these legal principles, in violation of the rights to life and security of the person.”

The report, however, noted the protest movement strategically sought to create lasting disruption through its road blockades and urban shutdowns, especially from 18 July onwards, and some elements in the crowds initiated acts of violence targeting public buildings, transport installations and the police.

“Such actions may have justified a measured and carefully targeted use of proportionate force in particular instances. However, this was not the approach that the security forces followed,” it said.

The report condemned indiscriminate use of fire arms against protesters saying, “Any use of firearms by law enforcement officials in the context of assemblies must be limited to the strictly necessary level and only targeted at those individuals who pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury”.

But, it said, the security forces tried to disperse disruptive, yet peaceful assemblies with “disproportionate force”, in particular by shooting military rifles and shotguns loaded with lethal metal pellets.

“In the most consequential cases in terms of casualties, they shot firearms indiscriminately at mixed crowds consisting of peaceful protesters, vandals, violent rioters and bystanders,” the UN rights agency said.

The report said in some cases security forces “deliberately killed or maimed defenceless protesters by shooting them at point blank range”, pointing out the case of slain Abu Sayeed in Rangpur on July 16.

“Based on reliable and consistent victim and witness accounts and videos, OHCHR has reasonable grounds to believe direct police involvement in, and responsibility for, his killing,” the OHCHR said.

It said according to police’s own report to OHCHR, clashes broke out between Chhatra League supporters and protesters when the protesters tried to forcefully enter through the gate of the university, and police “started firing gas shells and blank bullets to disperse the students and crowd.”

“Based on reliable and consistent victim and witness accounts and videos, OHCHR has reasonable grounds to believe direct police involvement in, and responsibility for, his (Sayeed’s) killing,” the report read.

The report said some former senior officials told the OHCHR investigators that shotguns loaded with metal shot were not considered lethal weapons by law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh.

They said lethal weapons could therefore be used when other, less-lethal weapons were ineffective, to disperse protesters and to protect property against vandalism and further indicated that ordinary police officers had broad discretion to decide when to deploy metal shot and when to use rubber bullets.

“Building on these overly permissive directives, police routinely fired lethal metal pellets from their shotguns to disperse peaceful protesters, stop people from vandalizing property and indiscriminately shoot at mixed crowds of peaceful protesters and violent rioters,” the UN office said.

The report said in some cases there was a graduated use of force, where tear gas and rubber bullets were used first but in many other cases the police resorted straight away to firing lethal metal shots.

OHCHR investigators also documented extensive shooting at protesters in other protest hotspots including Jatrabari of Dhaka, where extensive shooting commenced on July 17, earlier than in other areas, and it intensified when protesters blocked the strategic Dhaka-Chattogram highway.

“OHCHR established that state security forces carried out a particularly violent operation to clear the highway of protesters . . . the operation was carried out pursuant to directives of, and with direct oversight by, the political leadership and the most senior security officials,” it read.

The OHCHR said it also received witness testimony concerning killings by BGB outside Dhaka in two instances that occurred on 5 August and warrant further investigation.

“The number of those killed reached a peak on 5 August, the final day of the protests, when hundreds of thousands mobilized for the “March on Dhaka.” Based on reported deaths, OHCHR estimates that close to 400 people were killed that day,” it read.

The report said on the morning of August 5, Army and BGB personnel largely stood by and did not implement their assigned roles in the plan and “One senior official testified that the Army had not deployed the forces that it promised to deploy, while another noted that BGB let some 10,000-15,000 protesters per hour pass by entry points it was supposed to control”.

“A third senior official recounted how he knew that something was going wrong when he saw CCTV footage showing 500-600 protestors moving from Uttara towards central Dhaka without the Army stopping them. A fourth senior official personally called the Prime Minister to inform her that things were not going according to plan,” it read.