The UN Human Rights Office (UNHRC) said that there is a credible probability of “unnecessary” use of force by the Bangladeshi security forces against the student-led protesters that ousted the last government from power, in a report released on Friday.

In its report, the UNHRC raises various human rights concerns regarding the conduct of the government during the peaceful protests led by students against the government job quota reform. Along with the disproportionate use of force against the peaceful protesters which majorly included unarmed students, the report highlighted indications of “extrajudicial killings,” “arrests and allegations of torture and ill-treatment,” “restrictions on freedom of expression – internet shutdown” and “restrictions on freedom of movement” by the government and its security forces.

The report stated that the police and paramilitary forces employed indiscriminate force to crack down on peaceful protests and those with elements of violence. The quell includes the use of rubber bullets, sound grenades and firearms with live lethal ammunition. The report concluded that these forces are unnecessary and disproportionate because typical protests in Bangladesh do not involve the use of firearms.

According to the report, more than 600 people have been killed between July 16 and August 11. The report highlighted that such heavy and illegitimate use of force by the security forces against the unarmed and lightly armed protesters strictly contravenes Bangladesh’s obligation to its domestic and international human rights standards as also specified by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

The report also listed certain recommendations for the political actors, the interim government and the international community. The proposals to the interim governments stress on safety and protection of the protesters by “providing law enforcement agencies with clear instructions limiting the use of force, and especially firearms, in line with international human rights standards” and also to “facilitate peaceful protests without discrimination, while protecting public and private property from unlawful violence.”

On Thursday, the UN also confirmed that it will send a team of experts this week to Bangladesh to investigate the killings of protesters.

An interim government has been instated in the country post the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government amidst the furore over the government job quota reform. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate and critic of Sheikh Hasina government has recently taken oath as the interim government’s chief advisor.