Bangladesh’s caretaker government, led by Muhammad Yunus, has commissioned a significant report from the United Nations regarding alleged human rights violations during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Yunus emphasized his administration’s commitment to ensuring the security and dignity of all Bangladeshi citizens while seeking accountability for past abuses.
The UN report presents a stark contrast to the government’s previous estimates, indicating that the number of deaths resulting from state violence is substantially higher than the 834 fatalities acknowledged by the authorities. The investigative team, comprised of human rights experts, a forensics physician, and a weapons specialist, based their findings on over 230 interviews with survivors and witnesses. They also analyzed medical records, photographs, videos, and other relevant materials.
According to the findings, former senior officials, including those closely involved in managing protests, revealed that the former prime minister and other high-ranking officials orchestrated extensive operations in which security forces were directed to shoot and kill demonstrators or engage in arbitrary arrests and torture. The report highlighted systematic patterns of violence, including instances where individuals were shot at close range.
In response to the report, Mohammad Ali Arafat, a former minister in Hasina’s cabinet responsible for negotiating with protesters, vehemently dismissed the allegations. He labeled the claims as "preposterous" and criticized the reliance on testimonies from unnamed security officials, arguing that such individuals cannot be trusted given their own potential culpability in human rights abuses. Arafat cautioned that the UN might be misled by these officials, who might be attempting to deflect blame onto the current government.
While the UN report predominantly attributes the violence to government security forces, it also raises alarms about attacks on individuals who are perceived as supporters of the former government, as well as on certain religious and ethnic minorities. The UN Human Rights Office has called for these incidents to be thoroughly investigated as part of a broader effort to address human rights concerns in Bangladesh.
The findings of this report underscore the ongoing tensions in Bangladesh’s political landscape, as the interim government seeks to address past grievances while navigating the complexities of governance and human rights issues.