UN Accuses Bangladesh’s Ousted Government of Crimes Against Humanity

On Wednesday, the United Nations (UN) accused the ousted government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of committing systematic attacks and killings of protesters in an attempt to retain power last year.

In a statement, the UN referred to the toppling of Hasina’s government during a student-led revolt in August, following a violent crackdown on protests and widespread extrajudicial killings. The UN noted that Hasina’s regime was behind “crimes against humanity,” including murder, torture, imprisonment, and other inhumane acts.

According to a UN report, the crimes committed by Hasina’s government, along with members of her Awami League party and Bangladesh’s security forces, were part of a “widespread and systematic attack against protesters and civilians.”

Hasina, 77, who fled to neighboring India, is reportedly avoiding an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity in Bangladesh.

At the request of Bangladesh’s interim leader Mohammed Yunus, the UN rights office launched a fact-finding mission. The team, which included human rights investigators, a forensic physician, and a weapons expert, gathered information on the situation. Yunus welcomed the findings, expressing his commitment to transforming Bangladesh into a country where everyone could live in security and dignity.

The UN report was primarily based on over 230 interviews with victims, protest leaders, witnesses, and rights defenders, along with reviews of medical records, photographs, videos, and documents. The investigation concluded that Hasina’s government had relied on security forces to quell the protests, which initially began over civil service job quotas but quickly expanded into demands for her resignation.

The rights office claimed the government sought to suppress protests with increasingly brutal tactics, estimating that up to 1,400 people may have been killed over the course of 45 days, while thousands were injured. The majority of those killed were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces, with children making up about 12-13% of the victims. This death toll is significantly higher than the 834 deaths reported by Bangladesh’s interim government.

UN rights chief Volker Turk called the violent response a deliberate and coordinated strategy by the former government to hold onto power amid widespread opposition. He noted that there were reasonable grounds to believe that hundreds of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture occurred with the knowledge and coordination of political and security leaders as part of a broader effort to suppress the protests.

The gathered testimonies and evidence painted a chilling picture of state-sanctioned violence, including targeted killings. The report also documented cases of gender-based violence, such as threats of rape to deter women from protesting.

The UN team also found that children were subjected to arbitrary arrests, torture, and were killed or maimed by security forces.

The report also described violent retaliation, including lynchings of police officers and Awami League members.

Turk emphasized the importance of accountability and justice for Bangladesh’s national healing. He urged the country to confront the wrongs committed during this period, advocating for a comprehensive process of truth-telling, accountability, and reparations to ensure that such human rights violations never happen again.