The UN Human Rights Office has decided to send a fact-finding mission to Bangladesh to look into human rights violations committed from July 1 to August 15.
"The office will deploy a fact-finding team to Bangladesh in the coming weeks, with a view to reporting on violations and abuses perpetrated during the protests, analyzing root causes, and making recommendations to advance justice and accountability and for longer-term reforms," UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement on Friday.
The decision comes following a visit of a team from August 22-29 when they met different stakeholders including advisers in the interim government.
Earlier, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk received an official invitation from Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus to conduct an impartial and independent fact-finding mission into human rights violations committed from July 1 to August 15.
Meanwhile, during its visit, the UN team discussed the modalities for an investigation into human rights violations and abuses in the context of the recent violence and unrest, as requested by the interim government.
It also discussed wider areas, including civic space, the need for truth, justice, healing, reparation and reconciliation, and other human rights approaches to the reform process, in which the UN Human Rights Office could provide sustained support.
They met with the advisers in the interim government, the chief justice, senior officers of the police and armed forces, lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, and representatives of political parties and minority communities.
"The team received commitments from the interim government and security forces for full cooperation in this work," the spokesperson said.
The UN high commissioner also welcomed the announcement on Thursday of Bangladesh’s accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the establishment of a five-member national commission of inquiry to determine the whereabouts of individuals forcibly disappeared allegedly by law enforcement agencies.
"The issue of enforced disappearances has a long and painful history in Bangladesh, on which the UN Human Rights Office and UN human rights mechanisms have advocated robustly. We stand ready to support the commission in its work, which should be in close consultation with victims and their families and in line with international human rights standards, including the guiding principles for the search for disappeared persons.”
The UN office looks forward to supporting the interim government and people of Bangladesh at this pivotal moment to revitalize democracy, seek accountability and reconciliation, and advance human rights for all the people in Bangladesh, the spokesperson said.
