“Bangladesh has been troubled for a long time due to unfettered security force abuses against anyone who opposes the Sheikh Hasina government, and we are witnessing that same playbook again, this time to attack unarmed student protesters,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now is the time for influential governments to press Sheikh Hasina to stop her forces from brutalizing students and other protesters.”

In early July 2024, tens of thousands of university students began peacefully protesting after a High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruling restoring quotas in government jobs for various categories of people, particularly the 30 percent for descendants of those who had joined the war for independence of Bangladesh in 1971. Students contended that the quota for war veterans would unfairly benefit government supporters. On July 15, members of the Chhatra League (BCL), the student group affiliated with Prime Minister Hasina’s Awami League Party, backed by police, attacked the protesters, killing six people.

Protests spread to several cities and universities across the country following the July 15 attack, leading to deadly clashes between protesters and the pro-government supporters and security forces, with hundreds killed or wounded. Security forces have used live ammunition, tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, and shotgun pellets to disperse protesters. With the internet shut down, reliable information is difficult to get; Agence France-Presse said that police and hospitals had reported 163 deaths, but activists fear the number is much higher. “I have never seen such cruelty,” a Dhaka resident who recently left the country told Human Rights Watch. “The security forces just kept on shooting. They were shooting at such young people. They even shot at bystanders if they tried to help protect the students.”

Several journalists were injured when assaulted by security forces and Chhatra League supporters. The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, called for restraint and said the “attacks on student protesters are particularly shocking and unacceptable.”

Prime Minister Hasina, who won a fourth consecutive term after January elections that were not free or fair, had previously imposed and then withdrawn the quota. She has called for dialogue and promised an inquiry into the July 15 deaths. Educational institutions have been closed indefinitely. On July 21, the Supreme Court, hearing an appeal from the government, ruled to reduce the quota in government jobs, allocating 5 percent for descendants of independence war veterans and 2 percent for other categories.

However, students said that Sheikh Hasina has lost their trust following a statement that denounced the protesters as political traitors. The students responded by calling her an “autocrat.”

On June 18, the Bangladeshi authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, critically limiting communications, access to information, and ability to share reports of human rights abuses.

The junior telecommunications minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, confirmed the shutdown, citing concerns over the spread of “fake news.” Bangladeshi media sites were unable to upload credible information, fueling dangerous rumours. “Bangladesh is in information darkness,” one activist told Human Rights Watch.

The UN Human Rights Council had said in a 2016 consensus resolution that shutting the internet to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online violates international human rights law, and that all countries should refrain from and cease such measures.

Protests continued on July 19 and 20, with several people killed by security forces. After protesters stormed a jail in Narsingdi district and set fire to the state broadcaster’s offices, the government issued curfew orders and deployed the military.

On July 22, a student leader declared a 48-hour halt to the protests, calling on the government to end the curfew, restore access to the internet, and stop targeting the student protesters.

The authorities have arrested hundreds of protest participants and organizers, and there are allegations of enforced disappearances and torture in custody. Reports trickling out of Bangladesh say that there is ongoing violence in several places where protesters, now joined by members of the political opposition, are clashing with members of the Chhatra League and security forces. Police have backed the Chhatra League attacks instead of arresting those who engaged in violence.

In a television interview, the information minister, Mohammad A. Arafat, reportedly said that the civil unrest could be quelled quickly, but the government was exercising restraint. “The government hasn’t even used five percent of its total capability in this,” he said. “If it does, it won’t take half an hour. But the government is showing patience to avoid casualties.”

The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms prohibit the use of firearms except in cases of imminent threat of death or serious injury. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has stated that “firearms are not an appropriate tool for the policing of assemblies, and must never be used simply to disperse an assembly.… [A]ny use of firearms by law enforcement officials in the context of assemblies must be limited to targeted individuals in circumstances in which it is strictly necessary to confront an imminent threat of death or serious injury.”

The 2020 UN guidance on “less-lethal weapons” in law enforcement says: “Multiple projectiles fired at the same time are inaccurate and, in general, their use cannot comply with the principles of necessity and proportionality. Metal pellets, such as those fired from shotguns, should never be used.”

The authorities repeatedly deny that Bangladeshi security forces have committed serious human rights violations including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, leading to a climate of impunity, Human Rights Watch said. Other governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, should place Bangladeshi security forces under increased scrutiny following the designation of human rights sanctions by the US government.

“Bangladeshi authorities have flouted international standards in the past and continue to do so during the ongoing protests,” Ganguly said. “The Sheikh Hasina government should take immediate steps to end the crisis, rein in and punish security forces and her party supporters who have committed serious crimes, and protect the rights of protesting students.”