Former Bangladesh gov’t behind possible ‘crimes against humanity’, says UN

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s authorities was down imaginable “crimes against humanity” arsenic it strived to clasp connected to powerfulness past year, says the United Nations.

Before Hasina was toppled successful a chiefly student-led gyration past August, her authorities oversaw a systematic crackdown connected protesters, involving “hundreds of extrajudicial killings”, the UN quality rights bureau said successful a fact-finding study connected Wednesday.

Publishing findings of its enquiry into events successful Bangladesh betwixt July 1 and August 15 past year, the UN rights bureau said it had “reasonable grounds to judge that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, imprisonment and infliction of different inhumane acts person taken place”.

These alleged crimes committed by the government, on with convulsive elements of her Awami League party and the Bangladeshi information and quality services, were portion of “a wide and systematic onslaught against protesters and different civilians … successful furtherance of the erstwhile government’s [bid] to guarantee its continuation successful power”, the study says.

Hasina, 77, who fled into exile to neighbouring India, has already defied an apprehension warrant to look proceedings successful Bangladesh for crimes against humanity.

Up to 1,400 killed successful 45 days

The UN team recovered that Bangladesh’s information forces had supported Hasina’s authorities passim the unrest, which began arsenic protests against civilian work job quotas and past escalated into calls for her to basal down.

The rights bureau said the Hasina authorities tried systematically to suppress the protests with progressively convulsive means. It estimated that “as galore arsenic 1,400 radical whitethorn person been killed” successful those 45 days portion thousands were injured.

The immense bulk of those killed “were changeable by Bangladesh’s information forces”, the rights bureau said, adding 12 to 13 percent of those killed were minors.

The wide decease toll projection successful the UN study is acold higher than the astir caller estimation by Bangladesh’s interim authorities of 834.

“The brutal effect was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the erstwhile authorities to clasp onto powerfulness successful the look of wide opposition,” UN rights main Volker Turk said successful a statement.

“There are tenable grounds to judge hundreds of extrajudicial killings, extended arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture, were carried retired with the knowledge, coordination and absorption of the governmental enactment and elder information officials arsenic portion of a strategy to suppress the protests.”

Wounded protesters who ousted Hasina stitchery to show successful beforehand of a rehabilitation infirmary successful Dhaka connected November 13, 2024 [Abdul Goni/AFP]

The UN bureau launched its fact-finding ngo astatine the petition of Bangladesh’s interim person Mohammed Yunus, sending a squad including quality rights investigators, a forensic doc and a weapons adept to the country.

Wednesday’s study is chiefly based connected much than 230 confidential in-depth interviews conducted successful Bangladesh, including online, with victims, witnesses, protestation leaders, rights defenders and others, arsenic good arsenic reviews of aesculapian lawsuit files, photos, videos and different documents.

“Accountability and justness are indispensable for nationalist healing and for the aboriginal of Bangladesh,” Turk said, stressing that “the champion mode guardant for Bangladesh is to look the horrific wrongs committed” during the play successful question.

What was needed, helium said, was “a broad process of truth-telling, healing and accountability, and to redress the bequest of superior quality rights violations and guarantee they tin ne'er hap again”.

Dozen died successful detention: Rights group

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s starring rights radical Odhikar said successful a study connected Wednesday astatine slightest a twelve radical died successful detention since past year’s revolution, including by torture and gunshot wounds.

“The interim authorities should not fto these crimes spell unpunished,” Odhikar manager ASM Nasiruddin Elan told the AFP quality agency. “Those progressive successful extrajudicial killings indispensable beryllium brought to justice.”

Odhikar elaborate however information forces, during Hasina’s 15-year rule, engaged successful wide killings to bolster her powerfulness – and accused the aforesaid agencies of continuing to perpetrate quality rights violations since she fled.

Since she left, Bangladeshi information forces person carried retired sweeping arrests against supporters of the Awami League enactment and loyalists of what they dub her “fascist” ex-government.

Odhikar elaborate 12 deaths that took spot betwixt August 9 and December 31, 2024.

Three of them were successful constabulary custody, and the others were nether the power of different information units, including the equipped forces and much-feared paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

At slightest 7 victims died aft torture, and 4 had gunshot wounds, according to Odhikar. Another idiosyncratic was beaten and aboriginal pushed disconnected a span by the police, it added.

Bangladesh’s information forces are “investigating each the cases”, Sami-Ud-Dowla Chowdhury, the equipped forces’ nationalist relations director, told AFP.

Police spokesperson Inamul Haque Sagar said officers had been ordered to “refrain from activities beyond their jurisdiction”.

“Even the friends of the fascist authorities person a close to justice,” Odhikar’s Elan said. “Extrajudicial killings indispensable beryllium prevented astatine immoderate cost.”