Bangladesh: Ban pellet guns now

On 18 July, 2024, Muhaimin Pulok was part of the anti-discrimination student movement, protesting in Mirpur DOHS, Northern Dhaka, Bangladesh. Police indiscriminately fired pellet rounds against demonstrators and injured thousands during the three weeks of protest. Muhaimin Pulok sustained injuries to the chest, left arm and left eye. Photo: Muhaimin Pulok https://www.facebook.com/stop.using.pellet.guns.for.crowd.control

In the Bangladesh protests now known as the July Massacre, hundreds of demonstrators were injured by authorities’ use of pellet rounds, also referred to as birdshots.¹ The UN estimates that more than 20,000 protesters were injured in total during the demonstrations that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Although pellet rounds are considered a non-lethal alternative to firearms by some countries, they are prohibited under international standards because they are inherently imprecise and harmful.² In the 2024 protests in Bangladesh, many protestors were shot in the eyes, resulting in 401 people losing their eyesight, including 382 losing one eye and 19 losing both eyes. Between July 17 and August 27, 856 people were treated at the hospital for eye injuries and 520 underwent eye surgery.³

Pellet guns indiscriminately fire large amounts of small pellets with unpredictable trajectories. These kinetic impact projectiles are cartridges filled with small lead, steel, or composite pellets that spread out when fired. As emphasised in the present report, metal projectiles such as birdshots must be completely banned from protest settings to prevent further deaths and irreversible eye injuries.⁴

Birdshot cartridge. Photo courtesy of Omega Research Foundation

Context

In July 2024, university students in Bangladesh launched mass protests in response to the reinstatement of a quota system for government jobs seen as elitist and favouring the supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party.⁵ Fueled by widespread criticism of the ruling government, the protests became massive. They turned violent on July 15 when members of the Chhatra League, the student wing affiliated with the prime minister’s Awami League party, and law enforcement agencies brutally cracked down on the student movement.

The use of crowd control weapons, such as tear gas and rubber bullets, was indiscriminately used to disperse protest crowds. Members of the Chhatra League attacked student protestors with iron rods, sticks, and clubs, leaving many with broken bones and bashed heads.⁶ The army was deployed to impose a shoot-on-sight order with a mandatory curfew.⁷ Universities were also closed indefinitely and mobile data and internet services were shut down.⁸

Amnesty International reported unlawful use of pellet rounds against student protesters, dangerous use of tear gas in enclosed student spaces and unrestrained use of lethal firearms, such as AK-pattern assault rifles, by security forces. The international advocacy group also pointed out the violence unleashed by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) against unarmed and peaceful student protestors at the University of Dhaka and then against students receiving medical treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.⁹

Impact on health and human rights

Kinetic impact projectiles have resulted in significant morbidity and mortality in crowded settings. At close range, projectiles can penetrate tissue, compromise organs, sever arteries, or impact with enough force to fracture bones. Even at longer ranges, projectiles can carry enough energy to cause bruises, internal bleeding, and permanently damage delicate tissues such as the face, eyes and genitalia. Impacts to the head and neck are especially severe and carry the risk of blindness, traumatic brain injury, and death. Projectiles with metal components such as pellet rounds are particularly hazardous because of their density which can provoke severe injuries.

Prothom Alo, a Bangladeshi newspaper, reported on August 3 that 212 deaths were reported following the protests. Analysis of 175 of them from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and 11 other hospitals revealed that 78% of them (137 people) had died from lethal bullet wounds. Among the dead, 22 had pellet and rubber bullet wounds in the head, chest, back, and abdomen. Ten of the bodies had beating marks, 4 had been killed in arson attacks, and 2 drowned after being chased by police.¹⁰ These numbers are also estimated to have increased: between July 15 and August 5, the death toll ranged from 650 to over 1,000 killed,¹¹ at least 11,000 arrested,¹² and over 20,000 people were injured¹³ in the “July Massacre.”

Accountability

On July 21, in response to the violence and unrest, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ordered the government to reverse the unpopular quota law. Although Hasina’s cabinet complied, protests continued and called for investigations into the violent police crackdowns and the resignation of the Prime Minister and her Cabinet.

In the following weeks, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina officially resigned and fled the country for exile in India. An interim government was put in place under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, including two student protest leaders.¹⁴

Student and labour unions immediately demanded that an investigation be launched and Hasina be trialled for the massacre. Hasina, in exile, rejects responsibility for the mass killings and thousands of injuries and also calls for an investigation into alleged terrorist groups.¹⁵

On October 17, 2024, a special Bangladesh court issued an arrest warrant against Sheikh Hasina and 45 of her close aides on charges of crimes against humanity.

Call for an immediate ban on pellet guns for crowd control

Muhaimin Pulok, a birdshot victim of the July Massacre in Dhaka, reached out to INCLO about his ocular injury and fight to ban pellet guns from crowd control. We stand by him in demanding an absolute prohibition of birdshots against protesters.

This is his recount of the events:

“On 18th July, during the anti-discrimination student movement, Bangladesh Police indiscriminately fired pellets at innocent civilians from their shotguns, and as a result, I sustained injuries to some parts of my body, including an eye, in Mirpur DOHS area. On 19th July, I went to the National Institute of Ophthalmology & Hospital (NIOH) for treatment and underwent emergency eye surgery there. My injured eye was severely damaged and lost about 90 per cent of its vision. After conducting several examinations, the doctors said I had a pellet inside my eye and would need to do some more surgery to remove it.

Photo: Muhaimin Pulok https://www.facebook.com/stop.using.pellet.guns.for.crowd.control

On 6th August, I completed my second eye surgery at a private hospital called Vision Eye Hospital. During the second surgery, the pellet was removed from my eye, a vitrectomy was conducted, the retina was repaired, the trauma-induced cataract was extracted, the damaged lens was replaced with a new lens, and the surgery was completed by inserting intraocular gas and silicone oil into my eye. Another surgery will be done after 3-4 months to remove the silicone oil that has been placed inside the eye.

My eyesight has not recovered yet. With my injured eye, I can’t see anything except light and hand movements. Now, I am taking various medicines, instilling eye drops, and periodically going to the doctor for follow-up treatment. The cost of my treatment is very high, and the government hospitals are struggling to provide medical services because of the overwhelming number of patients.”

Since his injury, Muhaimin Pulok has been actively advocating for a complete ban on pellet guns in crowd control settings. He was recently featured in an article in The Business Standard, where he makes a compelling case for change and justice, stating that his injury was no accident but rather, ‘the consequence of a weapon that has no place in crowd control.’

He has created the Facebook page Stop Using Pellet Guns for Crowd Control as a support and information group for the numerous victims of birdshots in Bangladesh. He also wishes to draw attention to the urgency of removing pellet guns from the streets. As coined on his page, “Innocent civilians should not be injured or killed in the name of maintaining order.”