July Uprising: UN warned Bangladesh Army it could be removed from peacekeeping missions, says Türk

“We actually gave the warning to the Army that if they get involved, it means they may not be able to be a troop-contributing country anymore,” the UN rights chief says

The UN human rights chief says he warned the Bangladesh Army against engaging in any repression during the July-August uprising.

In an interview with the BBC programme HardTalk on Wednesday, Volker Türk said the force was warned about possible removal from peacekeeping operations.

“We actually gave the warning to the Army that if they get involved, it means they may not be able to be a troop-contributing country anymore.”

During a discussion on the activities and challenges of the UN Human Rights Commission, Türk cited Bangladesh as an example of the good work the agency has done.

Asked why many nations are not taking international human rights bodies seriously, Türk said:

“But I can give you an example where it’s taken seriously. I’ll give the example of Bangladesh last year, during July-August, you know, there were massive demonstrations of students, they had enough of the previous government under Sheikh Hasina, there was massive repression happening.”

“The big hope for them was actually our voice, was my voice, and was also what we were able to do. And We put the spotlight on the situation.”

After, highlighting the warning to the Army, he said:

“As a result we saw the changes when Muhammad Yunus took over as the new Chief Advisor of the interim administration, he asked me immediately can you send us a fact-finding mission to put the spotlight on the situation, to investigate what was happening and what we did.”

“It actually helped. I was in Bangladesh last year. The students were so grateful for us taking a stance and for us to speaking out, for supporting them.”

The UN fact-finding mission came to Bangladesh for a month in September at the invitation of the interim government. It consisted of human rights investigators, a forensic doctor and a weapons expert. The team published a report last month on human rights violations in Bangladesh from Jul 1 to Aug 15, 2024.

The report, citing former senior law enforcement officials, said that Hasina had ordered and supervised several large-scale operations of killings and indiscriminate shootings during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.

The UN - citing the 1,400 people killed during that time - said that crimes against humanity may have been committed in the suppression of the protests and the human rights violations could also be tried by the International Criminal Court.

As violence sparked around the movement for reforms to quotas for government jobs, the government of Sheikh Hasina imposed a curfew on Jul 19, 2024, and deployed the Army. The anti-discrimination student movement continued to protest despite the restrictions.

The protests began to spread across the country, leading to more violence nationwide. Eventually, the month-long quota reform movement evolved into a push to topple the Awami League government. In the face of the student-led protests, Hasina eventually fled to India on Aug 5.

On the final day of her regime’s 15-and-a-half years in power, thousands of people set out for Dhaka. The Army initially made an attempt to turn them away. Eventually, they allowed them to enter the capital.

By the time the crowd reached the former prime minister's residence Gonobhaban in the afternoon, Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that Hasina had resigned from her premiership.

With a few exceptions, the Army did not use force against the student-led movement. However, it did deploy armoured personnel carriers and helicopters for security. The UN lodged a protest against the use of some vehicles that had the UN logo on them and were assigned for peacekeeping missions.

After the fall of the Awami League, there were attacks and vandalism across the country. Police personnel, who many saw as the enforcers of the ousted Awami League, were attacked. Police stations and police installations were set on fire. Weapons and ammunition were looted.

Most police personnel did not immediately return to work following the government changeover in the face of widespread anger among the people involved in the uprising. At one point, they went on strike. The law-and-order situation across the country deteriorated in their absence.

Three days after the fall of the government, an interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus was sworn in. Although the new government did not impose a curfew, the Army was deployed across the country for security. In the absence of the police personnel, members of the Army initially served in police stations.

Then, on Sept 17, the interim government granted commissioned officers of the Army magisterial powers across the country for two months. Later, Navy and Air Force officers were also given the same powers.

The magisterial powers were extended twice and Armed Forces personnel are still on the ground, attempting to control the law-and-order situation and to conducting joint operations with other law enforcing agencies.