Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the government to authorise an independent investigation into a recent spate of alleged extrajudicial killings by security forces.
The HRW made the call in a statement published on Monday.
The human right organisation said: “Bangladeshi government should authorise an independent investigation into a recent spate of alleged extrajudicial killings by security forces.”
It said the government should publicly order law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of all those taken into custody.
The statement said: “Joint forces consisting of the Bangladesh Police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the Border Guards Bangladesh continue to arrest opposition supporters, some of whom are accused of involvement in violent protests before and during the January 5, 2014 elections which were boycotted by opposition parties.”
“Security forces claim that the deaths after arrest occurred during “crossfire,” which Human Rights Watch has previously documented is used by security forces as a common euphemism to describe what they claim to be shootouts, but which in reality appears to be the killing of people already in detention.” the report added.
“We are seeing a frightening pattern of supposed ‘crossfire’ killings of opposition members in Bangladesh,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The Bangladeshi government needs to ensure proper control of the security forces and order an independent and credible investigation into these deaths.”
It also claimed that more than 150 people died before the polls, of which many were ordinary citizens whose vehicles were set on fire by opposition supporters.
Human Rights Watch called on the government to publicly order the security forces to follow the United Nations 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.”
“The situation in Bangladesh is spiralling into a human rights crisis, with the possible return of suspicious killings by security forces, which we haven’t seen in recent years,” Adams said. “The governing Awami League complained bitterly about crossfire killings while in opposition, but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything to stop them now that it’s in power. It’s time for the prime minister to make a public statement condemning killings and torture, and hold the security forces accountable.”
