The United Nations yesterday called on Bangladeshi police to refrain from excessive use of force amid recurring violence and mass arrests ahead of general elections.
The UN human rights office on Monday lamented the violence that has erupted at opposition rallies in recent months, with police using rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.
“Police, alongside men in plain clothing, have been seen using hammers, sticks, bats and iron rods, among other objects, to beat protesters,” spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.
“Many opposition supporters, as well as some police, have been injured,” he said, adding that “senior opposition leaders have been beaten in broad daylight, and their homes raided by people claiming to be law enforcement.”
“Hundreds of opposition leaders and supporters have been arrested before and during the rallies.”
Bangladesh’s next general election is due before the current parliament’s term expires in January.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and dozens of smaller allies have called for protests throughout the country demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down and the polls take place under a neutral caretaker government.
Hasina has rejected the demand, saying it is unconstitutional.
Laurence stressed that Bangladeshi authorities “must abide by their human rights obligations and allow people to exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression.”