Nearly 100 arrested till yesterday, it claims
The Bangladeshi authorities must end the crackdown on protests that has seen nearly 100 people arrested till yesterday, Amnesty International has said.
“The Bangladeshi authorities must end this crackdown and release all protestors who were peacefully exercising their human rights,” Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director Omar Waraich said in a press release issued yesterday (August 17).
“The students were overwhelmingly peaceful, and only a tiny minority of people were involved in violence. Their actions must not become a pretext for an attack on civil society where dissent is punished and people live in fear that they will be arrested next,” he added.
Two weeks after thousands of school students took to the streets of Dhaka, demanding safer roads after two students were killed by a speeding bus, protesters are being subjected to intense online surveillance and arbitrary arrests.
In a series of public statements, officials of the Bangladeshi government have sought to portray the student protests as an attempt by the political opposition – Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami – to destabilise the government ahead of general elections later this year, the human rights body claimed.
Students and other activists say that they are being subjected to intensive surveillance, both online and offline, leaving them fearful of commenting on the protests on social media or even seeking medical help for injuries sustained during the protests, Amnesty International said.
“Police are using CCTV footage to identify students and pick them up. Many students who suffered injuries after the police fired rubber bullets are not even going to the hospital to receive treatment out of fear of arrest. They are still living in a lot of fear and trauma. We do not know what may happen,” Amnesty International reports quoting a student at a private university in Dhaka, who was hit by rubber bullets fired by the police on August 6.
To date, 97 students are known to have been arrested, the press release said.
At least 51 cases were filed between July 29 and August 18 this year, charging 5,000 unnamed people for a range of offences under draconian laws inconsistent with international human rights law and standards, including an arbitrary ban on “unlawful assembly”, reports Amnesty International.
“By contrast, no action has been reported to investigate and prosecute police officers that used unnecessary and excessive force against the largely peaceful protestors, or members of the pro-government student outfit Bangladesh Chhatra League, who were allegedly using machetes, tree branches and metal rods to attack students and journalists, as reported by victims and eyewitnesses,” the report added.
Photographer Shahidul Alam still detained
The authorities have also arrested three other people under Section 57 of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act.
These include photographer Shahidul Alam, who was arrested after giving an interview on Al-Jazeera English and remains in jail; Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed, an actress; and Faria Mahjabin, owner of a café.
“The government has itself conceded that Section 57 of the ICT Act is flawed, and yet it persists with its use,” said Omar Waraich.
“Shahidul Alam, Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed, Faria Mahjabin and all of the students who were arrested solely for peacefully exercising their human rights are prisoners of conscience. They must be released immediately and unconditionally,” added Waraich.
- Courtesy — thedailystar.net
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