[🇧🇩] UN investigation into enforced disappearances /deaths of students/citizens at the hands of security agencies

[Saif]

Security forces, AL men abused female protesters during July uprising: UN

State security forces and armed Awami League (AL) supporters had abused girls and women sexually during the July uprising to deter their participation in the movement, according to a recent report of the United Nations (UN) rights office. "Physical assaults on female protesters often targeted spec

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Security forces, AL men abused female protesters during July uprising: UN
BSS
Published :
Feb 19, 2025 22:33
Updated :
Feb 19, 2025 22:33

State security forces and armed Awami League (AL) supporters had abused girls and women sexually during the July uprising to deter their participation in the movement, according to a recent report of the United Nations (UN) rights office.

"Physical assaults on female protesters often targeted specific body parts such as face, chest, pelvis, and buttocks, as the perpetrators aimed not only to inflict pain but also apparently sought to humiliate and degrade women specifically based on their gender," said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) fact-finding report.

The Office of the OHCHR released its Fact-Finding Report titled "Human Rights Violations and Abuses related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh" from its Geneva office on February 12.

The report revealed that the violence targeting female protesters was often gender-based in its aims and means, reflecting abusive patterns specifically directed against women and girls.

Scrutinising interlocutors, it found that the perpetrators conducted gender-based violence as a tool to deter women's participation, undermine female leadership within the movement, and reinforce entrenched patriarchal norms.

Physical violence was routinely accompanied by gender-based insults, with female protestors frequently labelled as "whores," "*&*&*&*&*&," and "prostitutes," among other such degrading terms.

The OHCHR highlighted that AL and Chhatra League men and police officers frequently issued verbal threats of rape, forced nudity, and other forms of sexual violence against women.

The UN rights agency claimed that it received credible victim accounts of assaults by the AL supporters involving physical sexual violence.

In one case, a group of men armed with bamboo sticks apprehended a woman in early August in Dhaka and questioned her whether she was a protester.

After searching her bag and phone and finding a Bangladeshi flag, they physically assaulted her, tearing her hair, ripping her shirt, and groping her breasts and buttocks while scratching her chest and hurling sexualised insults, according to the UN fact-finding report.

It showed that two Chhatra League supporters, in another case that occurred in July in Dhaka, threatened to rape a female protester, her mother, and all the women in her family, and physically assaulted her, including by groping her breasts and genitals while making sexually explicit remarks.

After the incident, the victim received threatening calls with further threats of rape against her and other family members.

Witnesses also reported Chhatra League men assaulting several women in Cumilla, including two female students whom they apprehended and groped before handing them over to the police the report read.

Victims in Bangladesh often refrain from reporting sexual violence due to the lack of effective state reporting mechanisms, fear of retaliation from perpetrators, especially if they are in law enforcement, and the pervasive social stigma.

They also often do not receive medical, psychosocial and legal services they require, and then, if they are willing to report, they are not sufficiently protected, respected and given agency, the UN rights body observed.

The OHCHR considered it therefore likely that substantially more incidents occurred than could be documented by it, and strongly recommended that sexual and gender-based violence be a particular focus for further, gender-sensitive investigation.​

 

[Saif]

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-gene

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Implications of UN fact-finding report
Tanim Asjad
Published :
Feb 28, 2025 21:27
Updated :
Feb 28, 2025 21:27

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.​

 

[Saif]

UN fact-finding report on uprising crucial for due process

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk yesterday hoped that their recent independent fact-finding report will support truth-telling, accountability, reparations, healing and reform in Bangladesh

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UN fact-finding report on uprising crucial for due process
Says Volker Türk at Human Rights Council

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk yesterday hoped that their recent independent fact-finding report will support truth-telling, accountability, reparations, healing and reform in Bangladesh.

"It will be crucial to ensure due process in criminal cases and investigate revenge violence, including against minorities," he said, while sharing a global update at the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Turk said Bangladesh last year experienced a paroxysm of violence as the government of the time "brutally suppressed" a student movement that carried human rights as its torch.

"The country is now charting a new future," he said, adding that their recent independent fact-finding report on the grave human rights violations that took place is an "important contribution" to this journey.

UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Gwyn Lewis on Sunday informed Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus that Türk will brief the member states about its findings on March 5 during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

Yunus stressed documenting all "atrocities" committed during the regime of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The atrocities, including the crackdown on protesters at Shapla Chattar, police brutalities against protesters after the verdict against Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, and extrajudicial killings over the years.

"There is a need for proper documentation of all atrocities committed against the people of this country. Unless this documentation is done, it is difficult to know the truth and ensure justice," said the chief adviser.

He made the comment when UNRC Lewis and Senior Human Rights Adviser at the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in Bangladesh Huma Khan, called on him at the state guest house Jamuna.

Meanwhile in Myanmar, 2024 was the deadliest year for civilians since the military coup four years ago, said the UN rights chief in Geneva on Monday.

Turk said the military ramped up brutal attacks on civilians as their grip on power eroded, with retaliatory airstrikes and artillery shelling of villages and urban areas, arbitrary arrests and prosecutions, and the forcible conscription of thousands of young people.

"I urge the international community to decisively cut the supply of arms and finance that enable the military's vicious repression," said the UN human rights chief.​

 

[Saif]

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE: Commission searches for victims in Indian jails

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforce Disappearance on Tuesday said that their investigation was underway to know whether there was any victim of enforced disappearance in the list of 1,067 Bangladeshis detained in Indian jails in the past two and a half years.

www.newagebd.net

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE: Commission searches for victims in Indian jails
Staff Correspondent 04 March, 2025, 15:04

Commission of Inquiry on Enforce Disappearance member Nur Khan addresses a press conference at the commission office at Gulshan in Dhaka on Tuesday. | Focus Bangla photo

330 still missing, Aynaghar found in Bogura Police Lines

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforce Disappearance on Tuesday said that their investigation was underway to know whether there was any victim of enforced disappearance in the list of 1,067 Bangladeshis detained in Indian jails in the past two and a half years.

The commission received the list containing the detained people’s names and addresses from Bangladesh’s foreign ministry.

‘The ministry has informed the commission in writing that if they get more information, they will provide us with them. The investigation is going on to know whether there is any name of enforced disappearance victims there,’ said Moyeenul, addressing a press conference held at the commission’s office in the capital’s Gulshan area.

There are two highly publicised cases that provide valuable insights into how such operations were carried out – the case of Shukhranjan Bali, who was abducted from Bangladesh Supreme Court premises and was found later in an Indian jail, and that of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salahuddin Ahmed, said the commission in its first preliminary report submitted to chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on December 14.

The commission was formed on September 15, 2024, five weeks after the Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government assumed power on August 8, 2024, three days after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising.

The commission received 1,752 allegations of enforced disappearances that occurred during the AL regime between January 6, 2009 and August 5, 2024, said Justice Moyeenul.

He said that 1,000 of the allegations and attached papers were primarily scrutinised.

He said that the commission had already recorded statements from 280 complainants and 45 members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

He also said that 330 enforced disappearance victims were still missing.

Asked about the chance of their return, the commission chief said that the chance of their return was ‘low’.

He said that they, from the superintendents of police of the bordering districts and the Border Guard Bangladesh sector commanders, came to know that a total of 140 Bangladeshis were pushed into Bangladesh from the Indian side since August 5, 2024.

‘The Police and the BGB are investigating the incidents to get the complete information,’ he said.

He, however, referring to the findings of the primary investigation, said that the 140 people, pushed into Bangladesh, included none of the enforced disappearance victims.

‘But, the commission came to know that enforced disappearance victim Mohammad Rahmat Ullah, a resident of Dhamrai, was pushed into Bangladesh through the Gomastapur border in Chapainawabganj on December 22, 2024. The commission’s investigation is underway over the issue,’ said Moyeenul.

The name of Rahmat Ullah is not among the 140 Bangladeshis pushed into Bangladesh from the Indian side, a commission member told New Age.

Moyeenul told the press conference that the commission was inquiring about the members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies who had been facing allegations of their involvement in disappearing citizens forcefully.

‘Some people are expressing their concern that the entire force is panicked for the involvement of a section of the force members in enforced disappearance,’ said the commission chair in an oblique reference to the Chief of Army Staff General Waker Uz Zaman’s February 25 remarks saying that the members of the police, the Rapid Action Battalion, the Border Guard Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the National security Force were panicked.

The commission chief, however, urged all members of the forces not to be panicked as the involvement of an individual or individuals in the forces in the incidents of enforced disappearances was their personal criminal liability.

Referring to the commission’s visit to the secret detention centers, he said that they had found the structures of the RAB headquarters’ Taskforce for Interrogation and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence’s Joint Interrogation Cell, popularly known as Aynaghar, had been changed.

Commission member Noor Khan Liton said that they had also found secret detention centres in Bogura Police Lines where detainees were tortured.

According to the commission, they had found secret detention centres in several districts including Dhaka, Bogura, Rajshahi, Narayanganj, Chattogram and other districts of the agencies like the DGFI, the Counter Terrorism and Transitional Crime and the RAB.

The commission asked the authorities not to make any change in the structures of the secret detention centres.

On December 14, 2024, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance in its first interim report submitted to the interim government found prima facie involvement of the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and some high-ranking officials of her government and security forces in enforced disappearances.

The commission also found prima facie involvement of Indian authorities in the incidents of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh.

The commission chairman said that they would identify prima facie involvement of individuals in enforced disappearance and its conclusion would be decided by the International Crimes Tribunal.

Commission members Nabila Idris and Sazzad Hossain, among others, were present at the press conference.​

 

[Saif]

Bring the true perpetrators of enforced disappearance to book

Justice must be ensured for the victims of this heinous crime.

www.thedailystar.net

Bring the true perpetrators of enforced disappearance to book
Justice must be ensured for the victims of this heinous crime

VISUAL: STAR

At a press briefing on Tuesday, the chairperson of the inquiry commission on enforced disappearances once again stated how the highest level of the ousted Awami League government had been directly involved in cases of enforced disappearances, abusing the state's security apparatus to this heinous end. While this has been known for some time now, Tuesday's revelation reinforced the extent to which the fallen regime perverted the purpose of security forces to commit this absolute aberration of justice, rule of law, and human rights. Not only is it deeply saddening, but it is also a dark, shameful stain on the country's image as well as collective psyche.

The commission, which has been investigating cases of enforced disappearances since its formation on August 27, 2024, said it had interviewed 45 members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and identified those within these forces who had carried out the orders of their political masters. The commission chief also mentioned the prevailing apprehension among security forces in this regard and warned against what he called "community shielding" of the perpetrators, clarifying that individuals directly involved in this abominable crime must take personal responsibility for their actions.

We could not agree more. As we learnt from the inquiry commission's preliminary report, submitted to the chief adviser in December, various security agencies—from different wings of the police to intelligence bodies—were involved in a well-coordinated system set up by the fallen regime to abduct, detain, disappear, torture, and execute or frame in trumped up charges those critical of the government. Members of these forces thus strayed from their true purpose—serving the people and upholding the rule of law—at the behest of the deposed prime minister and her cohorts. Therefore, justice must be served, and as the commission chief said, those involved must be held accountable.

We appreciate the inquiry commission's efforts to bring justice to the victims of enforced disappearances. We also believe all details of this clandestine system of suppression should be made public. Doing so would serve as a lesson for the nation, ensuring that such a horrific abuse of our law enforcement and security forces, which are meant to protect us, is never repeated. To this end, laws could be enacted if necessary to shield security agencies from the undue influence of any government. This we suggest with the best interests of these institutions and the nation at heart.​

 

[Saif]

JULY UPRISING ABUSES: UN rights chief calls for justice

Presenting the fact-finding report in Geneva in Switzerland on human rights violations and abuses related to the protests of the July-August student-led mass uprising in Bangladesh, United Nations’ high commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Wednesday said that accountability was...

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JULY UPRISING ABUSES: UN rights chief calls for justice
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka 05 March, 2025, 21:17

Volker Türk | File photo

Presenting the fact-finding report in Geneva in Switzerland on human rights violations and abuses related to the protests of the July-August student-led mass uprising in Bangladesh, United Nations’ high commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Wednesday said that accountability was absolutely the key.

He, emphasising on future stability and protection of human rights, said that it was a huge chance for the country at this pivotal time to deal with its past and overcome its past to reach a moment of healing and truth telling and that included each and everyone within the society of Bangladesh.

Whatever differences are there, Volker Türk stressed that it was ‘one country and one citizenship’ and it was a unique opportunity for each and every citizen of Bangladesh.

Türk engaged in dialogue with member states and civil society on the findings and recommendations with a view to promoting accountability, justice, and human rights reforms in Bangladesh.

The interim government and civil society representatives from Bangladesh also participated in the event.

Referring to his first telephone conversation with chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, Turk said that Yunus told him human rights is at the centre of the reforms and transition. ‘Of course, this is hard work, no doubt about that. This is not easy.’

That was the right spirit and they all need to grasp the opportunity and support the opportunity towards transition, the UN human rights chief said.

Responding to a question, law adviser Asif Nazrul, who was present at the event, said that there had been some incidents of political violence against the ‘torturers, hooligans of the Awami League regime’, who oppressed and tortured people for many years.

He said that there were some incidents where people who were deeply involved with the AL regime were attacked. ‘We strongly condemned that.’

Asif Nazrul, however, said that most of them belong to the Muslim community and very few people belong to the minority groups.

In his concluding remarks, Turk said that it was fact that the interim government fully cooperated with them when they deployed their team very quickly at the request of the government. ‘We will continue to find ways to keep the Human Rights Council informed.’

‘It will be crucial to ensure due process in criminal cases and investigate revenge violence, including against minorities,’ Turk said while sharing a global update at the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva recently.

In the past year, Bangladesh experienced a paroxysm of violence as the government of that time ‘brutally suppressed’ a student movement that carried human rights as its torch, Turk mentioned.

‘The country is now charting a new future,’ he said, adding that their recent independent fact-finding report on the human rights violations that took place was an ‘important contribution’ to this journey.​

 

[Saif]

Enforced disappearance: Cancel passports of 10 Rab, seven police officials

The Commission for Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance recently wrote to the home ministry, seeking cancellation of the passports of 10 Rab and seven police officers for being involved with enforced disappearance.

www.thedailystar.net

Enforced disappearance: Cancel passports of 10 Rab, seven police officials
Inquiry commission asks home ministry

The Commission for Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance recently wrote to the home ministry, seeking cancellation of the passports of 10 Rab and seven police officers for being involved with enforced disappearance.

The list includes two former directors general of Rab M Khurshid Hussain and Md Harun Or Rashid

After receiving the letter on March 4, the Security Services Division asked the department of immigration and passports to implement the commission's directive and impose a travel ban on the individuals.

The others named in the list are three additional directors general of Rab's operation division, Col Anwar Latif Khan, Col KM Azad, and Col Kamrul Hasan; four Rab intelligence officers, former directors, Lt Col Muhammad Khairul Islam, Lt Col Md Mashiur Rahman Jewel and Lt Col Saiful Islam Suman, and additional superintendent of police Shyamal Chowdhury.

Members of the commission at a recent press conference said they found a secret detention centre inside Bogura police lines.

The commission's list contained the names of Ali Ashraf Bhuiyan, former superintendent of police in Bogura and current deputy commissioner of Barishal (south) range; Arifur Rahman Mondal, former ASP of Bogura and current a deputy inspector general in Barishal; Nur e Alam, former officer-in-charge of Detective Branch in Bogura and current inspector of Bogura Police Hospital; and Zulhas Uddin, former sub-inspector and current OC of Armed Police Batallion-7.

The Commission's letter also included the names of two additional deputy commissioners of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of police, Ahmedul Islam and Zahidul Haque Talukder.

"The commission has evidence of their involvement with enforced disappearance, and the commission will need to interview them further," said the letter.​

 

[Saif]

Perpetrators of enforced disappearances to face trial: Mahfuj Alam

The adviser made the remarks while exchanging views with the families of the victims of enforced disappearances

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Perpetrators of enforced disappearances to face trial: Mahfuj Alam

Photo: BSS

Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam today said that the individuals involved in enforced disappearances will be brought to justice during the tenure of the interim government.

The adviser made the remarks while exchanging views with the families of the victims of enforced disappearances. Human rights organisation Mayer Dak organised the event in the city's Tejgaon area this afternoon, said a press release.

Criticising ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Mahfuj said she used enforced disappearances and killings as a means of avenging her parents' assassination.

"The highest number of enforced disappearances occurred in 2013 and 2014 when people were fighting for their voting rights. The main objective behind these actions was to destroy the electoral system," he added.

The adviser said the government has already formed a commission to investigate into enforced disappearances.

"Based on the commission's recommendations, arrest warrants have been issued against several individuals involved in enforced disappearances. Additionally, investigations against many others are still ongoing," Mahfuj added.

He said those who opposed the Awami League politically were labelled as terrorists and militants before being forcibly disappeared.

Their families were also subjected to fear and intimidation, the adviser said, adding that various state institutions were used to carry out such disappearances.

Mahfuj said Hasina is still hatching conspiracies against the country staying in India, which is very unfortunate.

He said, "The Awami League will no longer be allowed to establish itself politically in Bangladesh. If Awami League is given another chance, enforced disappearances and killings will rise again. They will not be given that opportunity."

Noting that the present government is working to restore the human rights that Sheikh Hasina had taken away from the people, Mahfuj urged the families of the victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings to remain united.

He assured them that the government would stand by their side and support them in seeking justice.

At the event, Family members of the victims of enforced disappearance demanded trial for those responsible and wanted to know whereabouts of their missing loved ones.​