The United Nations Office at Geneva
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OHCHR Presser Turk on Bangladesh - 12 February 2025
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Bangladesh: UN report finds brutal, systematic repression of protests, calls for justice for serious rights violations
GENEVA (12 February 2025) – Bangladesh’s former Government and security and intelligence services, alongside violent elements associated with the Awami League party, systematically engaged in a range of serious human rights violations during last year’s student-led protests, a report by the UN Human Rights Office has found.
Drawing on testimony of senior officials and other evidence, it also found an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-Government protesters and sympathisers, raising concerns as to crimes against humanity requiring urgent further criminal investigation.
Based on deaths reported by various credible sources, the report estimates that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed between 1 July and 15 August, and thousands were injured, the vast majority of whom were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces. Of these, the report indicates that as many as 12-13 percent of those killed were children. Bangladesh Police reported that 44 of its officers were killed.
The protests were triggered by the High Court’s decision to reinstate a quota system in public service jobs but were rooted in much broader grievances arising from destructive and corrupt politics and governance that had entrenched economic inequalities. To remain in power, the former Government tried systematically to suppress these protests with increasingly violent means, the report finds.
“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 UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk. “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,” he added.
At the request of the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government, Mohammed Yunus, the UN Human Rights Office in September dispatched a team to Bangladesh, including human rights investigators, a forensics physician and a weapons expert, to conduct an independent and impartial factfinding into the deadly events.
The Interim Government extended significant cooperation with the inquiry, granted the access that was requested, and provided substantial documentation.
Former senior officials directly involved in handling the protests and other inside sources described how the former Prime Minister and other senior officials directed and oversaw a series of large-scale operations, in which security and intelligence forces shot and killed protesters or arbitrarily arrested and tortured them.
The report found patterns of security forces deliberately and impermissibly killing or maiming protesters, including incidents where people were shot at point-blank range.
The report examined in detail the emblematic case of Abu Sayed, among others, who was filmed shouting “shoot me” at police with his arms spread wide apart at a protest at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur. Using video footage, images and geolocation technology, investigators reconstructed his killing to corroborate testimonies of how it occurred. A forensic analysis concluded his injuries were consistent with his having been shot at least twice with shotguns loaded with metal pellets, from a distance of about 14 metres. The report concludes there are reasonable grounds to believe that Abu Sayed was the victim of a deliberate extrajudicial killing by the police.
Having been at the forefront of the early protests, women, including protest leaders, were also subjected to arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment and attacks by security forces and Awami League supporters. The report documents gender-based violence, including physical assaults and threats of rape, aimed at deterring women from participating in protests.
It also found police and other security forces killed and maimed children, and subjected them to arbitrary arrest, detention in inhumane conditions and torture. In one of several deadly cases documented, a 12-year-old protester in Dhanmondi died from internal bleeding caused by some 200 metal shot pellets. Also among those killed were very young children who were brought by their parents to protests, or who were shot as bystanders. In one case in Narayanganj, a six-year-old girl was killed by a bullet to the head while standing on the roof of her building observing violent clashes at a protest.
On 5 August – the final and one of the deadliest days of the protests – a 12-year-old boy who was shot by the police in Azampur recalled that police were “firing everywhere like rainfall”. He described seeing at least a dozen dead bodies.
The report also documents cases in which security forces denied or obstructed critical medical care for injured protesters, interrogated patients and collected their fingerprints in hospitals, intimidated medical personnel and seized hospital CCTV footage without due process, in an apparent effort to identify protesters and to conceal evidence of the extent of violence by State forces.
It also documents troubling instances of retaliatory killings and other serious revenge violence targeting Awami League officials and supporters, police and media, as the former 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, the report says.
The report provides a detailed set of recommendations to reform the security and justice sectors, abolish a host of repressive laws and institutions designed to stifle civic and political dissent, and implement broader changes to the political system and economic governance.
“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,” the High Commissioner said. “My Office stands ready to assist in this vital national accountability and reform process.”
ENDS
Teleprompter
Good morning everyone.
Today we are publishing our report on human rights violations and abuses related to the protests that took place in Bangladesh between the 1st of July and the 15th of August last year.
The report is based on a comprehensive investigation undertaken over the past four months by an interdisciplinary team of investigators from our office, including a forensic specialist and weapons expert.
The aim of this human rights investigation was to establish the facts in accordance with our standard methodology, identify responsibilities, analyse root causes and provide concrete recommendations.
We have on the podium today the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Volcker Turk, the Chief of our Asia Pacific Section, Rory Mongovan and our spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani.
The **** Commissioner will first deliver brief remarks and take a few questions.
He will then have to leave us while Mr Mongoven and Miss Shamdasani can speak to you in more detail on the findings and recommendations of the report.
Hi, Commissioner, please.
Well, good morning to journalists in Geneva and good afternoon to those of you who are joining us from Bangladesh and the region.
This has been an exceptionally important endeavour.
On 14 August last year, Doctor Muhammad Yunus, the Chief advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, asked me to deploy sound.
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So back over to the **** Commissioner.
So good morning to journalists here in Geneva.
Good afternoon to those of you who are joining us from Bangladesh and the region.
This has been an exceptionally important endeavour.
On 14 August last year, Doctor Muhammad 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 one July and 15 August of last year.
I want to emphasise the importance of that invitation by Doctor Yunus.
My team received overall good cooperation from the authorities, access to current and former senior officials and we also had access to a lot of important official information.
I would also like to express my deep gratitude to the many victims and their families, survivors, witnesses, medical professionals and other experts, national and international civil society organisations who engaged with and in and assisted our team.
Among our key findings, there are reasonable grounds to believe that officials of the former government, it's 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 I'll treatment, including of children, as well as gender based violence.
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 tender based violence by security forces and our Army League supporters.
They're 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, efforts to ensure accountability have begun, with many cases being launched, 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.
My office is is is available to advise and support 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 to the International Criminal Court 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.
Thousands of people, including children, have suffered life altering injuries.
Resources will be needed to implement victim centred reparation programmes and provide compensation, long term medical treatment, rehabilitation, care and livelihood opportunities for victims.
It is just as important that Bangladesh Institute's profound reforms so that such serious violations will never occur again and that the repressive laws and institutions underpinning them are dismantled or completely overhauled.
When I visited Bangladesh last October, I was deeply moved by my meetings with student leaders, with civil society actors and officials who are working hard to build on the momentum to implement a new vision for Bangladesh, one with human rights and social justice at its core.
The recommendations in this report are made in the spirit of contributing to the implementation of such a vision, and my office is available to continue and further expand our cooperation with Bangladesh, including through a strengthened presence in the country.
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.
Thank you.
Thank you, **** Commissioner.
We will now take questions.
I'd like to invite the Bangladeshi journalists who are online.
If you raise your hands, then we, we can take questions from you.
I don't see any raised at this stage in, in well, actually we do.
We've got, we've got one hand.
I'd rather we take three questions at a time.
So maybe we might actually, we'll take the first question online from Jamuna TV.
If you could please identify yourself, then we now actually have a a second question from Mehdi Hassan.
So if we do those first two questions, please.
Excellent.
Thank you.
My name is Marthas Mishu, I work for Jonguna TV.
It's a 24/7 news channel based in Dhaka.
My question is to **** Commissioner.
My question is about the legal process.
You know the you have identified the problems and prime ex Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her didn't home Minister Asad Jamal Khan Kamal as one of the planner and they were directed to the law enforcing agency to killing these 1400 people.
So they both of them are out of country.
So will you be able to help Bangladesh government to bring back there, bring back them in Bangladesh and face them the judicial process?
Thank you.
And the next question from Mahdi.
Hello, this is Maria Samarov, I am with the Network News.
According to the UN fact finding report, Naidi Islam now an advisor in the in the interim government, he was abducted and taken to DGFI, the military intelligence, their Inagar detention centre on the 19th July last year.
Would you please elaborate on the details of this abduction?
Thank you.
Thank you.
And then we'll take one more online from the Bangladeshi media, Israt from DBC News.
Israt from DBC News OK, maybe we're having AI think he's online.
Israt.
OK, we might move on to the next one.
I think he might be having some comms problems.
So this one is from Kamal Ruzam.
Yes, Kamal Ruzam.
If you could identify, if you could identify the news organisation you work for, please.
Yes, I'm Kamal Jawan.
I'm working for TRT World Bangladesh correspondent, Turkish television channel.
Actually you know that Sheikh Hasina along with other of cabinet members, most of them are now in India and Bangladesh is conducting the judicial process against the human rights violation and genocide charges especially during the July student movement.
But India Sheikh Hasina was the number one ally of India according to media statement and assessment.
And now India is very busy not to return Sheikh Hasina or other **** officials.
So do you think that in this situation, without the cooperation of India, the fair judicial process can be conducted by Bangladesh?
Thank you over to your **** Commissioner.
Well, thank you very much.
I think for when it comes to the first question, it is important and that is really goes to the heart of what the report is talking about.
It is about accountability.
When serious grave violations of international rights, law of, of, of abuses of this kind are being committed, as this document, as this report documents, it is crucial that indeed accountability is served.
It's also a response to the survivors and the victims and the people that my office was able to interview on the ground.
We have a domestic system and that domestic system and is in need of reform.
And that's what is happening as we speak.
And I had a chance when I was in Bangladesh to discuss this both with the interim government, but also with the different heads of the reform process that were that were under being undertaken.
And indeed, we need to ensure that there is fair trial standards as due process guarantees.
And, and this reform is, is ongoing and it's one that we we need to support as as much as we can from the international community side as well.
There is also the issue of making sure that so when people, for example, who have committed serious crimes are outside the country, a universal jurisdiction can can work in those countries where universal jurisdiction for grave violations of of international rights law is, is possible, then that can also be part of the accountability process.
And then of course, as I mentioned, the possibility of a referral by Bangladesh to the International Criminal Court because Bangladesh is a state party to their own statute now.
So this is one thing.
The other thing is truth telling.
My report directly contributes to that because it establishes the fact it's done by an independent.
We don't have any stakes in the matter.
What my team has done on the ground is precisely to establish the facts, to look at what happened to interview, to look at an enormous amount of material and to bring forward these facts and the application of the law.
And that is in and of itself important because it is part of the truth telling process.
But beyond that, we also need memorialisation.
We need a deep healing for those who are directly affected, but for the country as a whole.
And I just hope that the current reform process of the government, of the interim government is a, is an important contribution to this because we hope that this new vision of Bangladesh can be given birth to and with human rights at the centre of it.
On the second, there was a particular case mentioned, Nahid Islam.
In fact, we have documented this case.
If you read the report, we have this case documented was one of the emblematic cases of arbitrary detention of which, as you know, there were many findings in in that regard.
And again, we can learn from it and we have indeed made sure that these cases, the way that they are documented, provide the type of response that the that everyone expects.
Look on, on, as I mentioned before, on the, on the traditional process, it is important again that the traditional process inside the country's reform, that it guarantees due process, that it guarantees fair trials and that that process goes ahead because we cannot allow for perpetrators of serious human rights violations to get away with, with impunity.
They need to be held to account.
And and that's part indeed of, of the work that is being undertaken.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Now I we've got some, we'll take a couple of questions in the room to start with first, AFP.
Thank you.
Nina Larsen FP.
So I was wondering if you I had a couple small questions.
I was wondering if you could say what your report found in terms of Sheikh Hasina's direct responsibility if you're calling for international justice in this matter.
I know you said it's impossible that it's important that there is the possibility, but are you, do you think it's that it would be good that this does go to universal jurisdiction or to to other forms of international justice?
And finally, sorry on the reforms that you're talking about, have you are you concerned that the abuses that you found in in your report are continuing due to I guess you know, embedded problems in the system?
There is a report out today about 12 people who have died since the end of the the revolution in in custody.
So I'm just wondering if you had some comments on that.
Thank you.
We'll take another question in the room.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Lawrence 0 Swiss News Agency.
Thanks.
I, Commissioner, follow up on the last question.
There's been in, in the last days a wave of arrests, more than 1300 arrests.
You mentioned that there is a need to set back of the cycle of revenge.
So your comments on that and then on your call for truth telling, what's the first reaction of the new government?
Are they heading towards a format like a truth Commission?
Thank you.
Thank you.
If we have no more questions in the room, I think we'll take one more online from Shahidul Islam.
Sorry, I'll come to you next.
Shahidul.
Yes, it is Shahidul Islam Choudhury from in Bangladesh.
The Commissioner has mentioned about the ICT process in Bangladesh, at the same time the international avenues.
Potential injustice through ICC, should Bangladesh complete first the ICT process at home before going to the ICC process for international trial?
Thank you.
And we'll take one more question.
We've got one in the room and this will have to be the last one for the **** Commissioner.
Thank you.
Hi there.
Olivia from Reuters.
Thank you very much for this briefing.
Could you just give a couple of examples just to add a bit of detail about the types of things that you found in your report in terms of these human rights violations?
You gave gave some helpful broad details, but a couple of examples of some of the worst examples would be helpful.
Thank you.
Just to on the first question, I think it's clear when you read the report that my office's findings, foundries have a grounds to believe that indeed the, the top echelons of the previous government were aware and in fact were involved in the Commission of very serious violations of, of, of, for instance, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, the suppression of the protests through violence.
And what it means as well is in order.
I mean, these are findings.
And you know, we, there's a certain standard that we use when it comes to human rights enquiries.
It's quite another standard when it comes to, to trial.
And, and that's, that's a different standard that needs to be applied.
And, and that's why we are saying if, if it leads to trials, further obviously criminal investigations are required and and warranted because human rights enquiries do not in and of itself establish criminal guilt.
This is indeed for a court of law to decide, but it gives a very strong indication where our findings have gone.
The reform process, it's as always in a transition, fragile.
It's not easy.
I, I testify, I, I, I saw this myself when, when I went last year to visit Bangladesh.
But I was impressed by the thoroughness, by the seriousness and by the commitment of the interim government and the chief advisor, but also by the people who are leading these reform processes, the how deep they want to go into making sure that some of the systemic structural changes that they are overcome.
Is it easy?
No, it's not.
It's a complex process that's clear.
And the commitments from the government, even recent announcement by the chief advisor, for example, we're also very clear about not repeating the patterns of the past, these revenge killings, the identity politics, the patronage and, and the cycles of revenge.
And, and that is, is very strong commitment to things happen that shouldn't happen.
Yes, they do.
And as a result, they need to be investigated.
We, you know, my office only looked at a very specific time frame, which was July, mid August.
So it was already when the new interim government took, took office.
It is important that we learn that the country learns from this.
Our contribution is precisely to offer this fact.
But it is also important that each and every incident that happened ever since is is properly investigated.
And again, my office can provide an independent source of information because we have no stakes in the matter.
And that's the advantage of, of independent human rights inquiries and, and, and also help build up a system, a domestic system, national rights institution that is, is fully independent.
All the, the disappearances, a Commission that is also being established, that is part of, of human rights work that can overcome the past and can ensure that we don't fall back, that a country doesn't fall, society doesn't fall back into all cycles of trauma and revenge and, and, and, and, and violence.
So the truth telling process is, that's why the truth telling process is so important.
And the truth telling process is, is for everyone.
It's for each and every part, every segment of the society.
As you could see also in the report, we wanted to point the direction building also on experiences from from other countries that indeed you need to embrace the truth and you need to embrace the facts and you deal with with it through the application of the law.
When it comes to the referral, the possible referral, since Bangladesh is a state party to the Rome Statute, again, one of the principles of, of that is complementariness.
And it's, and you will have seen this in, in the whole working of, of the International Criminal Court.
It's when you are indeed faced with a situation that some cases are either so difficult to prosecute and to, to handle, it's better to refer to the International Criminal Court.
That's a consideration for the for the government of Bangladesh.
And it also shows the value of the International Criminal justice system.
And let's not forget that it has come under ******* in recent weeks.
And it is important to show how important that International Criminal criminal justice system is for the world, for countries that are particularly affected.
Some such as what we have discussing here.
But you know, we have had similar discussions.
We had a special session on the Democratic Republic of Congo last week, where again, similar considerations apply.
But it shows the value of the International Criminal justice system.
So the complementarities is critical.
Look at the, at the findings at I mean, it's, it's, it's a very brutal read.
And you, you have seen some of the worst examples.
Obviously the killings, 78% of the 1400 people who we know have been killed.
I mean, there may be more was by firing military rifles, shotguns with pellets.
You know, you have seen in the report, we have made a very strong plea that shotguns with pellets are forbidden because the injuries that they produce are horrific.
And I saw that myself.
I, I went to one of the hospitals in, in Bangladesh when I visited and I could talk to some of the survivors.
And some of them will be disabled for their lives.
And that's especially young people.
I mean, there were some of them were children that I, that I saw, some of them were, were young, young women, were young men and, and these type of injuries are, are horrific.
And we know that about 12 to 13% of children were affected by this.
We had also journalists being killed, at least 6, from what I hear from the report, more than and more than 200 injured, mass arrests.
The climate of fear that you may disappear, that you may not be found again is extremely traumatic.
And that was part of the repressive measures that applied.
And again, this, this tells us the story that we have to bring the situations to light and we need to put the spotlight on them, especially when we're able to establish the fact and, and we need to learn from them, not just for the situation in Bangladesh, but for many other situations around the world where similar systems of repression are working.
OK, Thank you very much.
Thank you, **** Commissioner, I can come in on one of the last questions.
Yes, Ravina Shamdasani, now our spokesperson and Rory will be Rory Mongoven, the head of our Asia Pacific section.
We'll continue taking your questions.
So Ravina now has a response to one of the the questions as well.
Thank you.
Good morning and good afternoon.
One of the questions was about some of the worst examples and the **** Commissioner, of course, painted a picture of just the scale of the brutality that occurred.
The report is unfortunately full of individual examples of of the brutality that people were subjected to.
Among one of the most harrowing testimonies was that of a young woman in Jatra Bari who was holding a wounded protester when a police officer executed him at point blank range.
When she screamed in horror, the officer turned his shotgun on her and fired again, causing severe injuries.
And in another case, the security forces shot a young boy in his hand with a shotgun from point blank range to punish him for throwing stones.
And this completely mangled the young boy's hand.
Thank you, Ravina.
So we'll go back online.
We have a couple of more questions pending.
So is wrapped from DBC.
I see you've raised your hand again.
Let's see if we can get it working this time is right.
I see you're unmuted.
OK, maybe the there is a problem.
Your end on that.
So we have a we'll take another two questions.
So we have a question from Salahuddin Ahmed and then a question from Mustafa Yousaf.
Thank you for giving me the floor to talk about.
Just I would like to know about a bullish reform and governance issues from Bangladesh and this enacted, you know, the Police Act of 1861.
During British rule, multiple attempts have been made to reform Bangladesh policing system.
Given that the Police Ordinance of 2007 was drafted but never enacted yet, should the interim government prioritise implementing it for meaningful police reform?
Do you think so?
If it is, please let me know your insights, please.
Thank you.
And then the next question, Mustafa.
Hello.
Hello everybody.
I'm Mustafa Yusuf.
I work for the Banner News.
It's a it's AUS government funded news portal focusing on South Asia.
My question is, could you be specific about the challenges containing government might face to prosecute the perpetrators of July uprising of July massacre?
Thanks.
Sorry, We we the the line was a bit muffled.
Could you repeat the question?
Sure.
Could you be specific about the challenges the interim government might face to prosecute the perpetrators of the July massacre?
Thank you.
I'll pass over to Rory Mongovan, the head of the Asia Pacific section.
Thank you very much for the questions.
And 1st, on the police reform, which is really a key piece to this moving forward.
And not just police reform, but reform to the security sector as a whole.
Because in Bangladesh, of course, one of the problems has been the militarisation of policing and the addition of different forces, Rapid Action Battalion, border guards and some other forces operating under military command or under the direction of the Prime Minister and senior executive.
So this breakdown of independent policing, politicisation of policing has really been one of the significant root causes identified in our report.
I mean we really recommend a reform very far reaching overhaul of the whole security sector.
There needs to be a change of approach in managing public order, not relying on these old colonial powers and emphasising less lethal forms of policing that de escalate situations rather than lead to these confrontations.
As **** Commissioner said, there needs to be a prohibition on the use of shotguns with pellets and military weapons in policing public order.
The policing system needs to be demilitarised.
We recommend the disbandment of the Rapid Action Battalion, which has been responsible for violations not only during this.
But for many years in Bangladesh.
And looking ahead, you know, the establishment of a national police Commission and independent bodies that could ensure accountability over the police, the border guards and other forces.
We're very pleased that the the government has appointed a reform Commission on police and we have seen that many of the recommendations that we are making align with what is coming through the reform Commission.
So we hope that this is 1 area that where there can be substantial change, substantial progress on the challenges to to prosecuting people.
You know, I think we we know that while the the, the, the the government has changed with the appointment of the interim government, the system has not necessarily changed.
And many officials and people who had served or been appointed under previous regime continue to, you know, function and often be needed across the different ministries.
And this of course, creates a kind of a potential conflict of interest of obstruction to the the reforms or to the accountability process moving forward.
When you have, you know, a police force that's not yet reformed were responsible for investigating violations committed by police, obviously you have a major challenge.
When you look at the courts, of course, the politicisation extended into the judiciary, many judicial appointments.
The former government had compromised the independence of the judiciary and the capacities of the key elements needed for accountability process.
Of course, Bangladesh is significant has its own international crimes tribunal.
But of course the the the investigator prosecution capacity in the court, you know remains quite limited.
We had an enormous challenge as an office to undertake this fact finding over several months.
We know the challenge that they are also facing as investigators in trying to pursue these cases.
So I think there are many, you know, institutional and capacity challenges for the justice sector moving forward.
As **** Commissioner said, the office is really ready to support in this.
And of course, Bangladesh can also look outwards to some of these other possibilities of international support from the International Criminal Court.
Actually, if I can just supplement what Rory has said, concerns do remain.
That is clear.
As the **** Commissioner pointed out and as Rory pointed out, transitions are fragile and there are still a lot of concerns about the the current situation in Bangladesh, particularly with regard to due process and fair trial in the many cases that have been filed, custodial deaths at the unreformed prison system, actions taken against journalists and persistent incidents as well of mob violence, including attacks on minorities.
In terms of recommendations, the the report contains very comprehensive set of recommendations on institutional reform, law reform.
One key recommendation is to take urgent measures to establish a victim and witness protection programme that is independent of the existing security forces and to initiate strict disciplinary measures and criminal investigations in cases of witness intimidation, because this is something we have witnessed quite a lot in Bangladesh.
Thank you, Ravenna.
We've actually got a question online.
It's from Boris Angleson.
He says Bangladesh has been the place of a rampant civil war for more than half a century.
What did or could so far the UN do to monitor the risks thereof and try to avoid this second or third or fourth bloodshed since the early 70s?
And then we have two other questions on the line, if we could go to 1st to Zima Islam and then Mak Zilani.
Thank you so much.
This is Zaima and I work at the Daily Star.
So my question is, did this very comprehensive investigation identify some of the perpetrators by name?
And would the Commission be sharing some of these names with the judicial processes in Bangladesh as they try to bring the perpetrators to book, specifically seeing that Bangladesh still still has the death penalty?
Mik Zelani, I see you're still muted.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This is Mik Zelani from Bangladesh working for the Daily somewhere.
Hello.
My question is what is the root causes of incident that occurred on July August?
And what type of instrument basically military instrument are used in that incident and have any sniper users or like this type please what is your findings?
Thank you.
Thank you, Rory.
Thank you very much.
Just the first question.
I mean, we, you know, we wouldn't characterise the situation in Bangladesh as having been in civil war.
But I think perhaps what you're reflecting is that Bangladesh has been caught in this trap of very binary politics, a kind of winner takes all politics.
That has has really led to a very deep polarisation in the country and the capture of state institutions by government in power and the weaponization of the law and the state often against the people.
That is in turn also kind of created an enabling environment for corruption and the, you know, Co option of the economy for, you know, private interests and patronage.
So I think all of these elements come together and have held the country, you know, hostage in many ways over many years.
And I think the, as the **** Commissioner said, but more importantly, as the students have said, as Chief Advisor has said, this is an opportunity, historic opportunity to break that cycle.
And to break that cycle to change the form of politics, governance, economy in Bangladesh really requires this comprehensive acknowledgement of the past reform of laws and institutions and of the system of governance, recreation of a civil society and civic space, but also democracy, even democracy within parties to really cultivate a New Democracy in Bangladesh.
And I think this is a moment, historic moment that the students have bought for the country and I think the **** commissioners, you know, offering our full support to, to, to realising that vision.
The report doesn't identify perpetrators as as such.
I mean, of course there are senior officials named in the report.
Different moments, different meetings.
You know, as **** Commissioner said, this is a human rights investigation, not a, an individual criminal investigation course.
We have retained huge amount of material and evidence from from this work.
It's being very carefully archived and kept according to, you know, the highest standard so that it could be used in a future accountability process.
And yes, on your question about cooperating with judicial processes going forward, this really depends on two or three things.
One, of course, you know, the consent of victims and, and of the people who've given us information to share that information, their protection that it's safe to do so, that they won't face some reprisal.
Secondly, that the process must be credible, fair, must meet the international standards of Fair trial.
And thirdly, as you rightly said, the issue of the death penalty is a problem for us.
We oppose the death penalty in, in all circumstances and, and as AUN policy, we're constrained from cooperating with, with processes, with trials that can result in the death penalty.
So this is a, is a constraint the the interim government is aware of that.
We hope that this whole process will lead to some reflection, debate, reconsideration of the death penalty in Bangladesh, which we think is actually part of this cycle of revenge and root causes.
Yeah.
Look, so many issues identified in the report.
I mean, of course the, the protests themselves came out of this student protest over the reintroduction of a quota system of employment for government jobs, the favoured families and, and descendants of the ruling party.
And but it reflected much broader grievances that had become very pent up in the society over a long time.
And I think these relate back to some of the things I said about the nature of politics, the the **** levels of corruption at **** level, but also at day-to-day level, the lack of opportunity of employment jobs.
This is a country that's moving towards middle income.
You have a fantastic young generation coming through universities with all sorts of new skills and without necessarily the, the, the opportunities to for employment.
You know, the suffocation of a lot of small medium enterprise by this whole oligarchic approach to the economy.
And, and also, I think, you know, the fact that these restrictive laws, the controls on social media, the suppression of, of independent journalism, all of this had built up really, I think to a point of explosion.
I think when we visited Bangladesh, even in, in, in 2022 with the former **** Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, you could feel this tension building in the society.
Of course, the elections in January of 2024 were, you know, very polarised and, and, and took place in an environment of, of suppression.
And so I think all of these ingredients really were the fuel to which the student protest, you know, sort of ignited and and and I think this is signified as well in how after the 17th, 18th of July, the protests broadened from the students to a much more mass movement that was reflective really of all sectors of the society and all of the different socio economic groups in terms of weapons.
I mean, we, we have, you know, quite a bit of information in the report and I encourage you to look at it it closely.
And **** Commissioner gave you a few of the, the statistics there which were striking.
You know, 78% of the fatalities were caused by firing, and of that, 66% were caused by military rifles and 12% by shotguns with pellets.
So that's about, you know, I mean, close to 80%.
And the, the things we find, you'll see in the research is, is not only the weapons that we use, but how they were used.
So this, this, this, this, this pattern of, for instance, firing obviously indiscriminately into crowds, but also firing above the torso and often at angles that were designed to hit the protesters rather than to disperse the protesters.
And of course, as, as Ravina mentioned, I mean, there's some horrible examples as well of protesters or bystanders being killed, you know, at very, very short range with, with very ****-powered weapons.
So I think you will see there, you know, this, this prevalence use of, of, of, of military grade weaponry was a key factor in the **** level of fatalities that were recorded.
Ravenna, I'll just add to that the the question on root causes was of course a very important, a key question.
And in fact this was part of what the interim government mandated our office to look into specifically on the root causes that led to this, these terrible incidents in in July and August.
The report is very long and detailed.
It contains a lot of rich in depth information about this.
And if you go to page 69, you'll see, you know, that the root cause is set out in a, in a very systematic manner.
And what you will find is of course, that the root causes run deep.
So the reform that needs to take place will also need to be profound.
Thank you.
We've got two more questions online and then we're nearly nearly hit the hour mark on the, on the press conference.
So I think we'll these will be our final 2 questions.
So we'll start with Mustafizur, followed by Takuya Mustafizur.
I see you're still muted.
Yeah.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah.
This is Mustafiz from New Age.
I'd like to know how could the EN system help Bangladesh?
Bangladesh government at present the government to bring back those who held two position during the July massacre including the Prime Minister and many of them by the time fled to other countries and taking shelter there including India.
How could the event system help Banglades to bring back those?
And do you think UN position on death sentence could stand as a barrier to getting your support in the trial process or investigation process?
Thank you.
And a question from Takuya.
Hi, could you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Thank you, Thank you.
Thank you for taking my question.
And I'm sorry, I was not allowed to get access to Zoom at the beginning.
So someone might have asked already, but I know regarding former Prime Minister herself, are you going to ask India about her whereabouts?
Because she reportedly, you know, went to India, of course.
So I going to ask India.
And do you think you have to interview with her or just it's out of scope?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Takuya.
There's a similar question.
I'll, I'll just share one more question online is concerning what what they say, the trial process of Shika Sina, how will it proceed?
And the question similar to what Takuya is asking is why is India not handing over to Bangladesh?
The interim government says that a formal request has been made to bring her back.
Is there any opportunities for the UN to play a role in this matter?
Rory, thank you for the, the, the two questions.
I mean, I think kind of relate together to this question of Sheikh Hasina and her, her, her, her extradition.
Look, the the bottom line is that all those responsible for what happened and what amount to very serious human rights violations and possibly international crimes are held accountable.
And the report shows that there are different avenues through which justice can be pursued both in Bangladesh and internationally.
The issue of extradition is really a bilateral process, but we hope that states will cooperate and support each other to towards this goal of accountability, whether that's India or other states where people may take refuge.
There are other ways that states can cooperate and support Bangladesh as well.
For instance, investigating corruption and tracing, you know, assets and I'll, I'll, I'll gotten or stolen funds.
So you know, the important thing is cooperation 1st and secondly, that any extradition or trial process respects due process and international standards of Fair trial.
The specific point of the death penalty was raised, yes, for the UN, it is a constraint for us to cooperate in proceedings that can result in the death penalty, but not just for the United Nations.
I think for many member states have this concern and would it would be a factor that they would, you know, also have to weigh in relation to their support to the process or the question of extradition.
So I think this is really, you know, needs to be seen in this broad principle really that that accountability must move forward and, and, and states have to find ways to work together to achieve that.
OK.
I think that will draw the press conference to an end here.
I see there are some more questions both in the chat room and and online.
Feel free to reach out to to our office.
We've got Ravina here and Rory who can assist you if you send us an e-mail.
Just to also to let you know the report is online as as is the press release.
So you can get information from that.
There is also an infographic which you will find, I'm sure very useful and we will be sending out broadcast quality video as well.
OK, thank you very much everyone.
Have a pleasant day.