Today, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry thanked the UN Human Rights Office’s Fact-Finding Team for their thorough work in compiling the in-depth report on human rights abuses during the July–August 2024 student-led revolt.
“We thank the Fact-Finding Team and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for their comprehensive work and detailed report,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said at the weekly media briefing this afternoon.
Alam said the Fact-Finding Team visited various locations in Bangladesh linked to human rights violations and conducted interviews with victims, eyewitnesses, political party members, law enforcement personnel, and other relevant stakeholders.
“In response to the team’s call for information, 959 individuals and organizations submitted data,” Alam added.
According to him, the team also asked other government entities in Bangladesh for information during the inquiry, and they supplied the needed data. Experts in weapons, legal analysis, forensics, and other pertinent fields comprised the Fact-Finding Team.
According to the UN study, which was verified and analyzed using the data gathered, over 1,400 people—including 13 women—were slain between July 15 and August 5, 2024. Twelve or so of the casualties were children.
According to forensic analyses of 130 fatalities, state security forces’ standard guns were responsible for almost 78% of the deaths.
“The report highlighted that serious human rights violations occurred between July 15 and August 5 as security forces and armed supporters of the Awami League resorted to unlawful methods to suppress protests in an effort to maintain power at all costs,” Alam said.
According to the report, these incidents were carried out with the knowledge, coordination, and directives of the political leadership of the then-ruling Awami League, using police, paramilitary forces, military, and intelligence agencies.
Based on the collected information, the UN Fact-Finding Team concluded that the human rights violations during the specified period constituted crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
“The report also linked these incidents to the political leadership of the then-government, specifically the Awami League (Paragraphs 290-292),” said the spokesperson.
The UN report contains recommendations to stop similar incidents from happening in the future, cause analysis, and accountability assessments in accordance with the Fact-Finding Team’s mandate.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dispatched an independent and unbiased Fact-Finding Team to look into the human rights abuses that occurred during the July–August 2024 rebellion in Bangladesh at the invitation of Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Mohammad Yunus.
On September 16 of last year, the Fact-Finding Team got to work. They published their report on Wednesday, revealing human rights crimes that took place in Bangladesh between July 1 and August 15, 2024, following nearly five months of independent research.
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