Implications of UN fact-finding report

The findings by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office, as revealed in its investigation report, have strongly confirmed that there was a brutal and systematic repression of protests in Bangladesh by the ousted regime of Sheikh Hasina during the July-August uprising last year. The UN body-generated report last month after conducting an extensive investigation pointed out that there was an 'official policy to attack and violently repress anti-Government protesters and sympathisers.' In this connection, the UN body expressed concern that there might be 'crimes against humanity', requiring urgent further criminal investigation.  

The UN fact-finding report, a testament to the UN's meticulous and extensive work, carries significant implications for Bangladesh and the global community. The report, which meticulously details the various incidents of human rights violations during the July-August mass uprising, is a result of the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) fact-finding team's 230 confidential, in-depth interviews in Bangladesh and online. The interviewees, including victims, witnesses, students, and other protest leaders, as well as human rights activists, university professors, journalists, medical professionals, lawyers, businesspeople, and others, provide a comprehensive and reliable account of the events.

Moreover, in 11 medical facilities, the OHCHR's forensic physician conferred with doctors, examined 29 victims and reviewed, with consent, 153 medical case files, including images of injuries. The OHCHR also preserved and reviewed thousands of original videos and photos obtained mainly from witnesses, victims, and journalists, providing direct evidence of violations at the protests, responsible actors involved, their weapons and modes of operation. The team used the latest technology available in terms of digital verification. Again, the UN fact-finding team talked to a number of past and current army, police and other law enforcement agency officials. The team also spoke to four Hasina government ministers, each of whom had key roles in relation to the protests and some leaders of the Awami League and the now-banned Bangladesh Chhatra League. The full methodology to conduct the probe and standard of proof has been described at the beginning of the report. The 114-page report provides a horrifying picture of the suppression and brutality of the Hasina government.

Loyalists, supporters and beneficiaries of the ousted regime have been trying to undermine the UN findings. Some of them have tried to mock the UN body for 'fabricated' and 'biased' reports. Some have argued that the report has been designed in association with the Yunus-led interim government. It is, however, a standard international norm that the UN body shared its draft report with the interim government of Bangladesh for its comments regarding 'any factual errors or inaccuracies.' It also integrated relevant comments into the report before finalisation.

Again, those who are criticising the UN OHCHR have entirely forgotten that Hasina herself said on August 2 last year that her government sought cooperation from the UN and other international organisations to probe the death and violence due to the quota protest movement. It is, however, difficult to believe whether she really did so if she stayed in power.  

The UN report is not just a documentation of the gross violation and abuse of human rights in Bangladesh by the ousted regime, but also a global recognition of the mass uprising. This international acknowledgment is significant, especially in the context of the persistent state-sponsored human rights abuse in Bangladesh over the last one and half decades of the Hasina regime.

The events of July-August, with the brutal killing of at least 1,400 people, injuring of more than 20,000, and detaining and torturing around 11,700 people, are not just unacceptable, but also demand immediate and full accountability. The fact that the perpetrators and their backers are now clearly identified underscores the urgency of the situation. This is a call for action that cannot be ignored.

Though the report's recommendations are not legally binding for Bangladesh to implement, it is necessary to do so in the country's greater interests.

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