UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk Report on Bangladesh press conference

“This has been an exceptionally important endeavour. On 14 August last year, Dr. Mohammed Yunus, the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, asked me to deploy a team to conduct an independent and impartial fact-finding into the human rights violations and abuses that took place between 1 July and 15 August of last year. I want to emphasise the importance of that invitation by Dr. Yunus,” Türksaid.

The fact-finding team received overall good cooperation from the authorities, as well as access to current and former senior officials and access to a lot of important official information. “I would also like to express my gratitude to the many victims and their families, witnesses, medical professionals and other experts, national and international civil society organisations who engaged with and assisted our team,” Türk added.

“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. These include hundreds of extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture and ill-treatment, including of children, as well as gender-based violence,” the High Commissioner said.

“These violations were carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the former political leadership and senior security officials, with the specific goal of suppressing the protests and keep the former Government’s grip on power. Women and girls were at the forefront of the early protests and our report details they were specifically subjected to gender-based violence by security forces and Awami League supporters,” Türk said.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that certain crimes against humanity have been committed, directed against protesters and their supporters.”

“We also documented serious acts of revenge that private individuals committed against supporters of the former ruling party, police officers and, in some cases, people belonging to minority and distinct religious groups in the immediate aftermath of the protests,” he said.

“Efforts to ensure accountability have begun, with many cases being lodged, including before Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal. There are major challenges and deficiencies in the current legal system, and significant steps need to be undertaken to ensure compliance with international standards of due process and fair trial,” the High Commissioner said.

The High Commissioner said his Office is available to advise the Government in addressing these issues. “There are also accountability avenues at the international level that can be considered such as universal jurisdiction as well as a referral by Bangladesh of this situation to the International Criminal Court,” he added.

“For violations of this gravity and magnitude, however, much more will need to be done than criminal trials. What is needed is a comprehensive process of truth-telling, reparation, memorialisation and reform as the path to national healing, and my hope is that this report will contribute to that,” he said.

According to the report thousands of people, including children, have suffered life-altering injuries. Resources will be needed to implement victim-centred reparation programs and provide compensation, long-term medical treatment, rehabilitation care and livelihood opportunities for victims.

The High Commissioner called for Bangladesh to institute profound reforms so that such serious violations will never occur again, and the repressive laws and institutions underpinning them are dismantled or completely overhauled.

He said that when he visited Bangladesh last October, he was deeply moved by the meetings with student leaders, civil society actors and officials who were working hard to build on the momentum to implement a new vision for a Bangladesh – one with human rights and social justice at its core.

“In recent decades, Bangladesh’s promise has too often been marred by bitter feuding, and patronage and identity politics. Today, this transition offers a chance to step back from cycles of revenge and move towards a new approach that brings the nation together in a spirit of trust-building and healing. Advancing accountability and human rights will be fundamental to achieving that transformation and change,” he concluded.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact

Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org

Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org

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