HRDC calls for immediate end to torture, violence against student protesters

The Human Rights Development Centre (HRDC) has called for an immediate end to the torture, organised violence, and ill-treatment of student protesters in Bangladesh.
The appeal was made by Mahbul Haque, secretary general of the HRDC, in response to the violent crackdown by security forces that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries among protesters.
Since mid-July, the government under former prime minister Sheikh Hasina intensified its response to student-led protests against the reinstatement of government job quotas. Protesters claimed these quotas benefit members of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League party.
Although the Supreme Court reduced the quota to 5%, protests and human rights violations have continued.
Haque urged the upcoming interim government to conduct an independent investigation into the violence and ensure law enforcement operations comply with international human rights norms and standards.
Over the past three weeks, there have been numerous reports of excessive and lethal force, restrictions on freedom of assembly, and internet shutdowns that have limited media coverage and access to information.
The HRDC has demanded that the interim government end the ill-treatment of protesters, lift restrictions on assembly, release detained organisers and peaceful protesters, conduct impartial investigations into human rights violations, hold perpetrators accountable, provide redress to victims, dissolve the Rapid Action Battalion and implicated police units, and engage with the international community by implementing recommendations from human rights bodies.