Bangladesh is witnessing the deadliest crackdown against protesters in the country’s post-independence history. The heavy-handed response from the authorities has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of students, journalists, and bystanders, and injured thousands. Sign the petition now and demand that the government of Bangladesh urgently end this repression.

On July 1, 2024, university students launched protests to demand reforms in the existing quota-system which reserves 30% of government jobs for descendants of independence war veterans claiming that it unjustly favours supporters of the ruling party.

The protests were met with a severe crackdown by the authorities, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Thousands more people were injured. More than 10,000 are believed to have been arrested.  

Amnesty International’s investigations show that security forces responded to the protests with unlawful, and sometimes lethal, force. The Bangladesh authorities also failed to prevent attacks against protesters allegedly carried out by members of the Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL), a group affiliated with the ruling party. The authorities issued a “shoot on sight” curfew and nationwide blackouts, cutting off the country from the rest of the world.

The rights and safety of Bangladeshis are at serious risk. Immediate action is needed to hold the authorities to account.

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Bangladesh: Further video and photographic analysis confirm police unlawfully used lethal and less-lethal weapons against protesters (25 July 2024)

Header image: Activists demonstrate in front of the Bangladesh High Commission (embassy) in the capital Colombo on July 22, 2024, demanding an end to a government crackdown against protesters opposing a controversial job allocation quota system. © ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images.