Hasina govt engaged in 'serious human rights violations': UN

A mural showing an injured protester with a Bangladesh bandanna being carried away on a rickshaw. UN/OHCHR

The United Nations has said that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina ordered and oversaw multiple large-scale operations that involved killings and indiscriminate shootings during the student-led movement in Bangladesh.

The revelation came from a UN report on human rights violations in Bangladesh between Jul 1 and Aug 15. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk presented key findings from the report at a media briefing in Geneva on Wednesday.

According to the report, former senior officials directly involved in suppressing the protests, along with other internal sources, have described how the former prime minister and other officials ordered and supervised multiple large-scale operations.

During these operations, security and intelligence forces shot and killed protesters or arbitrarily arrested and tortured them.

The report further said that security forces systematically and unlawfully killed or maimed protesters, including instances where people were shot at point-blank range.

"Based on a thorough and independent assessment of all the information collected, OHCHR finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the former government and its security and intelligence apparatus, together with violent elements associated with the Awami League, systematically engaged in serious human rights violations, including hundreds of extrajudicial killings, other use of force violations involving serious injuries to thousands of protesters, extensive arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture and other forms of ill-treatment," the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

"OHCHR has reasonable grounds to believe that these violations were carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security sector officials, in pursuance of a strategy to suppress the protests and related expressions of dissent. These serious human rights violations also raise concerns from the perspective of international criminal law, so that additional criminal investigations are warranted to determine the extent to which they may also amount to crimes against humanity and, torture (as a stand-alone international crime), as well as serious crimes under domestic law."

In response to a request from the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, a UN human rights investigation team conducted an inquiry in Bangladesh in September.

The UN said the investigation was led by Rory Mungoven, head of the UN Human Rights Office’s Asia-Pacific Region, and included human rights investigators, a forensic medical expert and a weapons specialist.

According to the UN, the fact-finding mission was conducted independently and impartially. The interim government fully cooperated by granting access and providing necessary documents.

Based on data from credible sources, the report estimates that over 1,400 people may have been killed between Jul 1 and Aug 15, with thousands more injured -- most of them shot by Bangladeshi security forces.

The report states that 12-13 percent of the dead were children, while the Bangladesh Police report that 44 policemen were killed

“The brutal response was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the former Government to hold onto power in the face of mass opposition,” said Turk. “There are reasonable grounds to believe hundreds of extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture, were carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security officials as part of a strategy to suppress the protests.”

“The testimonies and evidence we gathered paint a disturbing picture of rampant State violence and targeted killings, that are amongst the most serious violations of human rights, and which may also constitute international crimes. Accountability and justice are essential for national healing and for the future of Bangladesh.”

The report also says that there were instances of reprisal killings and other serious acts of retaliatory violence targeting Awami League officials and supporters, police and the media as the government started to lose control of the country.

“Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims and indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts were also subjected to human rights abuses. While some 100 arrests in relation to attacks on distinct religious and indigenous groups have reportedly been made, the perpetrators of many other acts of revenge violence and attacks on such groups still enjoy impunity,” a press release says regarding the report.

The report includes a number of recommendations, including reforms to the security and justice sectors, the dismantling of repressive laws and institutions that suppress civil and political dissent, and broad changes to the political system and economic management.

UN rights chief Turk said, “The best way forward for Bangladesh is to face the horrific wrongs committed during this period, through a comprehensive process of truth-telling, healing and accountability, and to redress the legacy of serious human rights violations and ensure they can never happen again.”

“My office stands ready to assist in this vital national accountability and reform process.”