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Fact-finding team reports widespread shotgun use, targeted force during Bangladesh student protests
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Summary
A fact-finding team said investigators observed widespread shotgun use and gather evidence suggesting coordinated actions by former political leaders and senior security officials during student-led protests in Bangladesh; the team received more than 900 submissions and deployed forensic expertise to hospitals and protest sites.
“You can start to see where certain types of weapons were employed, certain types of ammunition in those weapons, and the impacts that they had on people, on property,” Speaker 1, a staff member on the fact-finding team, said.
The team said it was deployed at the request of Bangladesh’s interim government and visited protest hot spots, including university areas, while collecting testimony and documentary submissions. “Following the student led protests in Bangladesh, it was the interim government itself that requested the deployment of a fact finding mission to Bangladesh. The team visited hot spots, sites of protests, including universities. We also received more than 900 submissions from individuals,” Speaker 2, a staff member, said.
Mission members described the methods investigators are using and the expertise they said is necessary to verify allegations. “In terms of expertise, we need traditional human rights experts and investigators who conduct interviews and look at the information received. We have zoomed in on certain key areas here. For example, we have a shooter, and trying to, triangulate and cross check the information to see exactly what happened,” Speaker 3, a staff member, said.
The briefing said forensic medical work was part of the evidence-gathering. “We have forensic pathologist who is able to go to hospitals to ascertain, the mode of injury, the mode of death,” Speaker 3 said.
The team reported frequent use of shotguns in crowd-control situations and described the locations targeted on a person’s body. “One of the key things, very wide use of shotguns for demonstration controls. The shotguns were aimed above the waist, the chest, and to the heads of the persons,” Speaker 4, a staff member, said.
In its strongest allegation, the mission said some operations appeared to be organized at senior levels. “[They] were carried out with the knowledge, coordination, and direction of the former political leadership and senior security officials, with a specific goal of suppressing the protests and keep the former government's grip on power,” Speaker 5, a staff member, said.
Speakers described the mission’s work as a process of collecting submissions, interviewing witnesses and specialists, and cross-checking physical and testimonial evidence. The briefing materials presented to the meeting do not specify any formal findings, rulings or next procedural steps; the statements recorded in the briefing describe ongoing evidence-gathering and analysis.
