Speakers, including researchers and academics, on Wednesday said that violence against July uprising protesters was state-sponsored as the violence was perpetrated by the personnel of multiple branches of law enforcement and security agencies and leaders and activists of the then Awami League regime.
Their statement came at a discussion titled 鈥楾he anatomy of headshot: state-sponsored violence and the lethal suppression of protesters during the July uprising鈥�, organised by human rights think-tank and advocacy organisation Shokol Praner Nirapotta, held at Bishwa Shahitto Kendro in the capital.
While presenting a paper based on different national and international reports on the uprising, the think-tank鈥檚 researcher Zeba Sajida Saraf said that the state and the ruling party deployed lethal weapons and militarised tactics against unarmed civilians to kill and terrorise them.
Analysing 54 documented cases of headshots committed by different state forces and non-state perpetrators, Zeba, in her paper, said that most of the headshots, 31, were carried out by the Bangladesh Police. Some were perpetrated by other law enforcement and security agencies. In 11 cases, the perpetrator could not be definitively identified, while AL leaders and activists were responsible in eight headshot cases.
She also mentioned that military rifles, pistols and metal pellet-loaded shotguns were used against the protesters from close range with ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina ordered the law enforcement to kill the protesters.
Zeba said that Awami League during its 15-year rule systematically dismantled the professional integrity of the police force by embedding political loyalty into key positions.
BRAC University law lecturer Sadman Rizwan Apurbo said that crimes against humanity took place during the uprising and the rights ensured by the country鈥檚 constitution were violated.
Referring to an international law regarding war, he said that use of lethal weapons was prohibited against civilians during wars between countries, but lethal weapons were used to kill civilians during the uprising. He also demanded timely reforms in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 to change legal mechanism that allowed such violence.
Jahangirnagar University associate professor Rezwana Karim Snigdha said that the protesters were shot on the head not only to kill but also to decimate the dignity of the protesters.
She also mentioned that protesters were labelled as 鈥楯amaat鈥�, 鈥楽hibir鈥�, 鈥楻ajakar鈥� and called other names with which political stigma was attached to dehumanise and justify the killings.
Independent University Bangladesh professor Bokhtiar Ahmed, journalist Zina Tasreen, July uprising martyrs鈥� brothers Solaiman Topu and Sirajul Islam also spoke at the event.