Dear Congressperson, 

I am writing to you as a concerned citizen to urgently request your intervention regarding the Government forces’ ongoing massacre of school- and college-students and grave human rights crisis in Bangladesh. Recent events have highlighted an unprecedented and brutal  escalation of violence and suppression by the Bangladeshi government and its armed forces against peacefully protesting school/college kids. This situation demands immediate international attention and action.

Background:

Since 2013, college students of Bangladesh have been protesting against a quota system in public service where 56% of jobs were reserved for select groups of people. The most contentious part of the system was the 30% allotted to  the grand-children and other descendants of freedom fighters who fought for the country’s liberation war in 1971. These fighters were only 0.16% of the population but their distant descendents had 30% of public sector jobs. In reality, most of these jobs went to the ruling party cronies, musclemen and highest bidders through rampant corruption. Rest of the young folks (99.7% of the population) had to compete for the remaining 44% positions based on merit (Ref: CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/19/asia/bangladesh-job-quota-protests-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html).

With 18 million educated young men/women having no jobs today in a country of 170 million, the grievances have been piling up since 2009 when PM Sheikh Hasina came to power. Corruption allegations, increasingly stifled dissent and the media, crackdown on opposition leaders and activists, and most important of all, holding no credible free and fair polling process in three consecutive elections, exposed a fascist and autocratic nature of the government. There were few democratic processes left to voice people's dissatisfaction. In this broad context, the students continued to protest against quota in a peaceful manner from the start (Ref: BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5xye1d285o).

But the government, instead of showing any positive intent, used all kinds of techniques to kick the can down the road every year. But on the 14th of July this year, in her post-China-tour press conference, PM Hasina suddenly escalated the issue to the extreme, and insulted the protesting students terming them anti-liberation forces influenced by “fundamentalist elements“. The next day, under full Police protection, PM Hasina mobilized her party-followers equipped with guns, machetes and sticks to eliminate protesting students from schools/dorms of all major universities/colleges. A reign of terror ensued on July 15. On that day, 279 students had to be treated for serious injuries in local hospitals. As the general students fought back and resisted the attackers, the next day the government deployed the Army, paramilitary forces (BGB, RAB), Police and other semi-government and private forces with ‘shoot-on-sight-order’  (Ref: AP News:  https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-student-protests-curfew-government-jobs-quota-9af35994b4855ffac9bd962861447cda). What happened next was a  bloodbath all over the country. Just in 3 days, 200+ people were killed (Government Home Minister’s own admission was for 150 deaths). Although most of the killed were college/university students, because of armed forces’ indiscriminate shootings, many children of ages starting from 4 were also slaughtered . Current reports indicate that the security forces are fully engaged in brutal practices such as arbitrary arrests (10,000 arrests in the last 2 weeks), forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings (Ref: AP News:  https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-student-protests-hasina-quota-arrests-mourning-e30fc4d7603edad5acacde1c97efbdc0). On top of it, the government imposed a total internet and mobile blackout for almost 10 days, further exacerbating the crisis and preventing independent verification of these abuses. (Ref: Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/bangladesh-end-punitive-mass-arrests-and-arbitrary-detention-of-student-leaders-and-protesters/)

Key Issues:

• Violence Against Protesters: The indiscriminate use of force against peaceful demonstrators is a gross violation of fundamental human rights. Witnesses and rights groups have documented numerous instances of police brutality and the unlawful use of lethal force (ref: Reuters - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c720lzejzwpo).
• Suppression of Dissent: The Bangladeshi government has been accused of stifling dissent and curtailing democratic freedoms. The recent violent crackdown is consistent with a broader pattern of autocratic rule, marked by mass arrests, forced disappearances, and strictest censorship (Ref: ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-24/students-risking-their-lives-to-take-on-bangladesh-government/104130980).
• Using UN-marked Armored Cars and Military Helicopters to shoot at People: In several locations, the Armed Forces used helicopters and  white Armored Vehicles clearly marked with UN logo to assault peaceful demonstrators and indiscriminately shoot at young students, some of them aged as low as 14.  (Ref: Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-says-it-forgot-remove-un-logos-vehicles-it-contained-unrest-2024-07-25/ and  DW News  (Deutsche Wille, Germany):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMF9dWjg8P0).
• Lack of Accountability: Despite international criticism, including from the United Nations, EU and human rights organizations and US Senators Cory Booker and Ben Cardin, there has been no independent investigation into the reported abuses (Ref: US Senate website: https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/dem/release/cardin-booker-statement-on-violent-suppression-of-protests-in-bangladesh and France24 News:  https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240725-un-human-rights-chief-calls-on-bangladesh-to-disclose-protest-crackdown-details). This lack of accountability emboldened further repression and established a reign of terror across the country. In the last few days alone, the forces locked up more than 10,000 students and that number is growing every hour (Ref: Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-says-it-forgot-remove-un-logos-vehicles-it-contained-unrest-2024-07-25/).  
   

Our Request:

We urge you to take the following actions to address this dire human rights crisis:

• Demand an International Inquiry: Advocate for an independent and impartial international investigation into the alleged human rights violations committed by Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies. This inquiry should assess the scale of the abuses and hold accountable those responsible.
• Press for Immediate Stop to Violence and Repression: Call on the Bangladeshi government to immediately halt its violent campaign against protesters and ensure the protection of human rights. Emphasize the need for a logical resolution to the unrest through all-party dialogue and genuine engagement with the protesters' demands.
• Support Human Rights Initiatives: Support international efforts to monitor the situation closely and provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the violence. Encourage the U.S. government and its allies to impose targeted sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the abuses.

By taking these actions, you will help bring global attention to the catastrophic situation in Bangladesh and contribute to efforts to restore human rights and democratic freedoms in the country.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I trust in your commitment to upholding human rights and look forward to your response.