UN report accuses former Bangladesh government headed by Sheikh Hasina of ‘crimes against humanity’

The United Nations on Feb 12 said the former Bangladesh government headed by Sheikh Hasina was behind “systemic repression and killings of protesters during last year's mass agitation.”

The report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its fact-finding report titled ‘Human Rights Violations and Abuses Related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh’ suggesting that the abuses by the previous government can amount to “crimes against humanity.”

Sheikh Hasina, who ruled over Bangladesh for 16 years, was forced to resign last year on August 5 after the months-long students-led protest.

She fled to India Hasina by helicopter right before crowds stormed her residence last August.

The UN human rights investigators accused Hasina and her government of trying to hold onto power using brutal force against mass agitation last year, during which 1,400 people were killed, mostly by security personnel.

“An official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters" had been directed by political leaders and senior security officials, said the UN.

The unrest began last year against quotas in civil service jobs which escalated into a countrywide movement against Hasina and Awami League Party.

Thousands of protesters were injured in the worst violence the country witnessed since its war of independence in 1971.

The findings of the investigation reveal that the then government, including Sheikh Hasina, "were aware of and involved in very serious offences", UN human rights chief Volker Türk told a news conference in Geneva.

"Among our key findings, there are reasonable grounds to believe that officials of the former government, its security and intelligence apparatus, together with violent elements associated with the former ruling party, committed serious and systematic human rights violations," Türk said.

They also documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the intentional maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

According to the report, around 13% of the 1,400 people killed between July 1 and August 15 were children.

"The brutal response was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the former government to hold onto power in the face of mass opposition," Türk said.

He added that the evidence found by his office showed "a disturbing picture of rampant state violence and targeted killings".

“There are reasonable grounds to believe hundreds of extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture, were carried out with the knowledge, co-ordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security officials as part of a strategy to suppress the protests.”

The UN team that was part of the investigation included human rights investigators, a forensics physician, and a weapons expert.
The team conducted more than 230 interviews with survivors, witnesses, and others. They were also provided with medical case files, photos, videos and other material.

"Former senior officials directly involved in handling the protests and other inside sources described how the former prime minister and other senior officials directed and oversaw a series of large-scale operations, in which security and intelligence forces shot and killed protesters or arbitrarily arrested and tortured them," the report said.

It "found patterns of security forces deliberately and impermissibly killing or maiming protesters, including incidents where people were shot at point-blank range.”

The report also raised concerns about violence against supporters of Hasina, her party and some religious and ethnic groups.

Bangladesh's caretaker leader, Muhammad Yunus welcomed the UN report which was done at his request.

It thanked the Office of OHCHR for undertaking “the most thorough independent investigation to date of the events in Bangladesh in July and August that ended the Hasina regime,” Chief Adviser’s Press Wing said in a statement.

Yunus said that his government remain "committed to transforming Bangladesh into a country in which all its people can live in security and dignity".