Blood on the streets

"Since February 2013, large demonstrations in Bangladesh have been met with violence by security forces. At least 150 people--a large majority of them unarmed protesters and bystanders--have been killed and more than 2,000 injured. In January and February 2013, demonstrators gathered to protest or support verdicts handed down by a court set up to prosecute individuals responsible for atrocities committed during the country's 1971 war of independence. These protests were followed by even larger demonstrations in Dhaka in early May 2013 led by Hefazat-e-Islam, a conservative Islamic movement. Some demonstrations were entirely peaceful; in others, crowds of protesters attacked security forces with rocks and other improvised weapons. Blood on the Streets provides a detailed description of the demonstrations and their aftermath, and documents human rights violations that accompanied the government's response. While in some cases security forces responded to violence in an appropriate fashion, using non lethal methods to disperse crowds, in many other cases they responded with excessive force. Security forces used live ammunition improperly or without justification, killing some protesters in chaotic scenes and executing others in cold blood. Many of the dead were shot in the head and chest, indicating that security forces fired directly into crowds. Others were beaten or hacked to death. At least seven children were killed by security forces. Following the clashes, security forces in several instances engaged in arbitrary and often violent neighborhood sweeps, arbitrarily arresting scores of people. With the prospects of more war crimes verdicts and highly contested national elections approaching, it is critical that the Bangladeshi authorities ensure proper investigations into allegations of misconduct. The even-handed pursuit of justice is essential if Bangladesh is to avoid a cycle of violence and impunity and further deterioration of the human rights situation"--P. [4] of cover.