OHCHR: serious human rights violations during protests in Bangladesh

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) dispatched an independent fact-finding team to Bangladesh at the request of Mohammed Yunus, the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh. The fact finding report issued by the OHCHR on 12 February 2025, following the Call for Submissions on human rights violations during Bangladesh students-led protests and the subsequent independent fact-finding inquiry by the OHCHR, has found that the former government led by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, security and intelligence forces were responsible for a wide range of human rights violations. Between 1 July and 15 August 2024, anti-government protestors and sympathisers faced violent attacks and were repressed. UN Human Rights Office report estimates state that more than a thousand people were subjected to ill-treatment and more than hundreds to extrajudicial killings between July and August 2024. The deaths resulted from indiscriminate shooting by the security forces and an estimated 12-13% of those killed were children. All these actions amount to crimes against humanity. 

The student-led protests in Bangladesh began when the High Court decided to put in place the quota system in public service jobs which would favour the Awami League supporters. There were already existing grievances regarding corruption, unemployment and economic inequalities. As a consequence of that, the Hasina government tried to systematically suppress these protests using violent means. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk noted that the violent response was a well calculated strategy to hold onto power. The government engaged in targeted killings, detention, torture and other acts that constitute international crimes.

Direct testimony from former senior officials stated that Prime Minister Hasina, along with senior officials, oversaw operations directly in which protestors were shot, detained and tortured. The case of Abu Sayed was examined in detail in the report which found that he was shot twice and killed. Women protestors were threatened with rape in order to prevent their participation in protests. Young children who attended protests with their parents were also victims of security forces brutality. 

The report also documented instances where security forces denied access to medical care for the injured protesters and medical personnel were threatened. There have been cases of retaliatory killings where Awami league officials and supporters were targeted. Minority communities like the Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims and indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts were also attacked. According to the investigation, the attackers have not been held accountable for their actions. 

Finally, the report also includes a set of recommendations.