The UN human rights office estimated on Wednesday that about 1,400 people were killed in Bangladesh in three weeks last summer.
In a new report, the Geneva-based office says security and intelligence agencies have been “systematically involved” in rights abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity and that further investigations are needed.
Citing “several credible sources,” the rights office said about 1,400 people were killed in the protests between July 15 and August 5, when longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India amid the uprising.
Thousands more were injured in the weeks before and after the protests, and the vast majority of those killed and injured were “shot by Bangladeshi security forces,” the report said.
Citing information from security services, the report said more than 11,700 people were being detained. It said 12% to 13% of the estimated number killed – about 180 – were children.
In some cases, “security forces deliberately shot unarmed protesters at point-blank range, executing them in summary executions,” it said.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said “extrajudicial killings, widespread arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture” had been carried out with the knowledge and coordination of the political leadership and top security officials as a way to suppress the protests.
The UN fact-finding mission was sent to Bangladesh at the invitation of Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, to investigate the uprising and the violent crackdown.
The interim government has reportedly made 100 arrests in connection with attacks on religious and indigenous groups. “Many perpetrators of reprisals, violence and attacks against various groups appear to be going unpunished,” the report said.
The UN office said the human rights situation in Bangladesh remained a matter of concern.
Although the government has changed, “the system has not necessarily changed,” Rory Mungovan, the rights office’s Asia-Pacific chief, told reporters. “Many officials and individuals who served or were appointed under the previous regime continue to operate,” he said.
Such a situation creates a “clash of allegiances” and could hinder reform and accountability, Mungowan added.
The investigators issued dozens of recommendations to the government, including taking steps to improve the justice system and establishing a witness protection program. It also recommended that security forces be banned from using lethal weapons to disperse crowds unless “near-fatal or serious injury” occurs.
In a statement after the report was released, Yunus reiterated his government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and said it was crucial to reform the country’s law enforcement and justice sectors.
“I urge everyone working in these institutions to stand up for justice, the law and the people of Bangladesh, and to stand up for their own peers and others who have broken the law and violated the human and civil rights of their fellow citizens,” he said.
What began as peaceful protests by students frustrated with a quota system for government jobs unexpectedly escalated into a major uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.
A Supreme Court ruling reinstating the quota system in early June was the “immediate trigger” for the protests, which were also fueled by long-standing grievances over economic inequality and lack of rights, the report said.
