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The late Sheikh Hasina is the mastermind of the July massacre. The massacre was carried out under her direct planning and order. Sheikh Hasina ordered the killing of the leaders of the July protests and the disappearance of their bodies. At least 1,400 people were killed in this infernal massacre in the history of Bangladesh. 13 percent of the dead were children. These horrific facts have emerged in the final report of the UN fact-finding mission formed to investigate the massacres and human rights violations committed during the July Revolution....READ THE FULL CONTENT FROM THE SOURCE | READ THE FULL CONTENT FROM THE SOURCE
The report was released at a press conference at the UN office in Geneva at 2:30 pm Bangladesh time on Wednesday.
The report highlights evidence of Sheikh Hasina’s direct involvement in crimes against humanity, including murders, and says that a senior official testified that he ordered a meeting of top security officials on July 19 to kill the main instigators of the protests and those who were creating problems and hide their bodies. On the morning and evening of August 4, the National Security Council held two meetings with top security officials. The meeting decided to cancel the August 5 ‘March to Dhaka’ program by using force at any cost.
The report describes the killings and gross human rights violations committed during the July protests as crimes against humanity.
Highlighting the role of the political leadership in the security forces’ operation to suppress the July protests, the report said that a top official testified that all orders to suppress the protests came from political leaders. At a meeting of the core committee held on July 18, the then Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal ordered the use of lethal force to suppress the protests. The Home Minister held meetings with senior officials of the police, RAB, BGB, army and DGFI, among others, to crack down on protesters and carry out mass arrests.
The UN report said that internet services were suspended on the orders of the ministry to suppress peaceful protests and arbitrary detentions.
At the invitation of the interim government of Bangladesh, OHCHR conducted an independent fact-finding mission into alleged human rights violations and abuses that occurred between 1 July and 15 August 2024. The inquiry was conducted to understand the context and immediate impact of the widespread protests in Bangladesh. Based on a thorough and independent analysis of all the information collected, OHCHR found it credible that the former government and its security and intelligence forces, in collaboration with the Awami League, engaged in systematic and serious human rights violations using violent means.
As a result, hundreds of extrajudicial killings occurred, and thousands of protesters were subjected to excessive force. Arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment have occurred. Furthermore, OHCHR has reason to believe that human rights violations have been carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security officials as a tactic to suppress protests and dissent.
These serious human rights violations are also of concern from the perspective of international criminal law. Therefore, additional criminal investigations are needed to assess the extent to which crimes against humanity and torture (as separate international crimes) and serious crimes under domestic law have been committed.
The immediate protests erupted in the wake of the High Court’s decision on 5 June 2024 to restore the 30 per cent quota reservation in government jobs for the next generation of freedom fighters who participated in the war of independence. But already, deep resentment had arisen among people from different strata of society, rooted in the fragility and corruption of the existing political and administrative system that failed to address the existing political and administrative system.
In fact, economic inequality compounded the problem and the lack of access to economic, social and cultural rights fuelled public anger. Thousands of Bangladeshis, women and children from diverse socio-economic, professional and religious backgrounds joined the protests. The student body demanded meaningful social, economic and political reforms. In an attempt to suppress the growing public anger and cling to power, the former government resorted to increasing violence and systematically tried to suppress the protests.
From mid-July onwards, the former government and the Awami League continued to consolidate armed militias. In an initial attempt to suppress the protests, Awami League leaders, including government ministers, incited Chhatra League activists to attack peaceful student gatherings on and around university campuses with sticks, sharp weapons and even firearms. The students sometimes tried to defend themselves. In response, the government resorted to more serious violence.
In violation of international human rights law, Bangladesh police, in close coordination with an armed group of Awami League supporters, used excessive force to suppress peaceful student protests, most notably a major demonstration at Dhaka University on July 17.Following these incidents, anti-discrimination student movement leaders called for general demonstrations and a complete shutdown in Dhaka and other cities, which was supported by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami.
In response, the then government became more violent against the protesters and protest organizers. This led to violations of the rights to public life, peaceful assembly, freedom, and security of person. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police helicopters attempted to intimidate the protesters from the air. Police, RAB, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) fired lethal pellets from military rifles and loaded shotguns into the field, as well as deploying less lethal weapons against the protesters.
Some of the protesters attempted to block roads and vandalize some structures. But by then, the protests had been largely peaceful. To defend themselves against such attacks, some protesters took turns throwing bricks and using batons. In response to this deteriorating situation and state violence, some sections of the protesters engaged in violent acts, most of which targeted government buildings, transport infrastructure, and the police. On the evening of July 18, the government issued instructions to strengthen security forces to use lethal force against protesters.
From July 19 until the end of the protests, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and police used indiscriminate lethal weapons on protesters in Dhaka and elsewhere, resulting in extrajudicial killings and injuries, including to journalists covering the protests. In some cases, security forces intentionally opened fire at unarmed protesters at close range.However, the police and paramilitary forces failed to quell the protests, and the protesters’ anger grew. On July 20, the government imposed a general curfew and deployed the army. In some cases, soldiers fired blank shots at protesters, but did not kill or seriously injure any of the protesters; only one was extrajudicially killed.
According to some eyewitness accounts, at a meeting held on August 3 in the presence of the army chief, junior army officers pressed for the rejection of the order to use firearms against civilian protesters; they refused to open fire on the protesters.Nevertheless, the army played a significant role in further pacifying the protesters by providing them with protective facilities. They were allowed to use lethal force against the protesters without fear of retaliation. During the blockade of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway on 20 and 21 July, the police and RAB were given full permission to open fire.
This resulted in deaths and injuries. In late July, the army also took part in a large-scale operation, in which the police and RAB arrested a large number of people indiscriminately to control the mass protests. Testimony from former senior officers also revealed that the army, BGB and police participated in a government plan to stop the Dhaka march called by the protesters on 5 August by force. According to that plan, the police shot and killed many protesters, but the army and BGB largely stood by passively, allowing the protesters to continue their movement unhindered.
The intelligence services – the Directorate General of Armed Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) – and the special branches of the police – the Intelligence Branch, the Special Branch and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTTC) – were directly involved in human rights violations in the name of suppressing the protesters. They shared surveillance information from one agency to another in violation of the right to privacy and campaigned for mass arbitrary arrests in late July. The intelligence branch routinely resorted to arbitrary detention and torture to extract information and confessions from detainees.
The CTTC headquarters was used as a place of detention for arbitrarily detained detainees, including children. The intelligence branch and the DGFI jointly abducted and arbitrarily detained student leaders there and used force to pressure protesters to withdraw from the movement.DGFI, NSI and intelligence personnel obstructed life-saving medical care for the injured, frequently interrogated patients in hospitals, arrested the injured and intimidated medical personnel. In this situation, no effective action was taken by the law enforcement authorities or the judiciary to stop the incidents and practices of arbitrary detention and torture. No officials involved in such acts were held accountable.
Intelligence agencies also played a role in covering up these systematic and organized grave human rights violations. The NTMC worked with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to implement the directives of the ministries to prevent protesters from using electronic communications to organize their events. The right of the people to share information about the violence via the internet or social media was curtailed. At the same time, DGFI, NSI and RAB pressured media outlets to not report fully and objectively on the mass protests and their violent repression. The DGFI joined forces with the police to intimidate victims, their families, and lawyers into remaining silent.
Based on first-hand testimony from senior officials involved in the incident and other internal sources, OHCHR concludes that the police, paramilitary, military and intelligence officers, as well as those associated with the Awami League, used violent elements in a coordinated and systematic manner. The violence was carried out with the full knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership. The then Prime Minister and the Home Minister coordinated and led the activities of the security and intelligence branches. Both sides received regular reports on what was happening on the ground from multiple sources.
According to the testimony of senior government officials, on 21 July and early August, the Prime Minister was provided with reports from senior officials, which specifically raised concerns about the use of excessive force. Political leaders and the leadership of the police and army visited the sites to gain a realistic understanding of the human rights violations. In addition, the political leadership issued direct orders and other instructions authorizing and directing the activities carried out by the BGB, RAB, DGFI, police and intelligence branches. These forces were involved in serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions of protesters and civilians.
By early August 2024, the former government was gradually losing control of the country. The population engaged in reprisal killings and other serious retaliatory violence; in particular, Awami League supporters and loyalists, the police, and the media were subjected to such violence.
During and after the protests, members of the Hindu community, the Ahmadiyya community, and indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts were subjected to violent attacks by rioters. Their homes were burned and some places of worship were attacked. There were reprisals against religious and ethnic minorities, as well as Awami League supporters. Disputes over land ownership within the local population, interpersonal conflicts, and attacks on minority communities supported by the Awami League continued. Some Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP supporters and local leaders also engaged in reprisal violence and attacks on distinct religious and indigenous groups. However, the information received by OHCHR does not indicate that the incidents were organized under the direction of the central leadership, and instead they condemned the violence against minorities.
As of 5 August 2024, no effective steps had been taken to investigate or ensure accountability for any serious human rights violations and abuses committed by the Awami League government, security forces, or Awami League supporters.Since the fall of the Awami League government, the current interim government has taken steps to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations and abuses. Among its steps has been to prosecute senior officials in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh as well as in regular courts.
These efforts are hampered by a number of factors, largely due to pre-existing structural deficiencies in law enforcement and the judiciary. Police misconduct, such as the filing of baseless charges in public cases, persistent intimidation by some security officials, and evidence fabrication, continue to plague the process. Many accused officials remain in their former positions. There are concerns about due process in the ICT and other courts. Although the interim government has reported arrests of 100 people in connection with attacks on distinct religious and indigenous groups, many other crimes, including retaliatory violence, continue to enjoy impunity.
Based on information from government and non-government sources, OHCHR estimates that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests, most of them by the use of lethal weapons, military rifles and shotguns by Bangladeshi security forces. Thousands more were seriously injured and suffered life-threatening injuries. According to information provided to OHCHR by the police and RAB, more than 11,700 people were arrested and detained.
Casualty figures indicate that around 12-13 per cent of those killed were children. Children have also been targeted by the police and other security forces. Children have been killed, intentionally maimed, arbitrarily arrested, detained in inhumane conditions, tortured and other ill-treatment.Women and girls, who were at the forefront of the protests, were also targeted by security forces and Awami League supporters. They were particularly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence.
This included gender-based physical violence, threats of rape and, in some documented cases, sexual assault by Awami League supporters. OHCHR has received allegations of sexual violence and threats of rape as reprisal violence. Given the social and cultural sensitivities and the paucity of data on sexual and gender-based violence in Bangladesh, OHCHR believes that it has not been possible to document the full extent of sexual violence. Further research is needed to explore its impact in order to fully assist victims.
Outdated laws and policies, a corrupt governance structure and the erosion of the rule of law have led to the indiscriminate use of force against protesters. The militarization of the police, the politicization of the security and justice sectors, and institutional impunity have led to the disproportionate use of force against protesters. The former Awami League government relied on a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to suppress peaceful civil and political dissent. Such repressive conditions have also fueled opposition anger towards the government, leading to violent protests.
OHCHR’s fact-finding efforts have sought to identify the root causes of serious human rights violations and abuses, identifying areas for urgent and long-term reform to ensure that similar serious human rights violations do not recur. To this end, OHCHR recommends a number of steps in this report, including reform of the security and judicial sectors, repealing repressive laws and policies, amending laws to bring them into line with international human rights standards, reforming the institutional and governance sectors, and undertaking broader changes to the political and political process that eliminate discrimination, ensure the participation of all, and ensure respect for and protection of human rights for all people in Bangladesh.
Equally important in this regard will be ensuring fair and independent justice and accountability. Establishing effective mechanisms for redress for victims that will support the national healing process. As part of this, OHCHR recommends a comprehensive, inclusive and fact-based transitional justice process, through an inclusive national dialogue and consultations.
The establishment of this justice process aims to ensure justice for the most responsible perpetrators, in line with international standards. This will be done through a comprehensive victim-centred approach that will support justice and protection for human rights violations. This will be done through truth-seeking, reparations, remembrance, scrutiny of security sector activities, and other measures that will ensure the prevention of recurrence. Such initiatives will contribute to social cohesion, national healing and the reconciliation of diverse groups and communities.
OHCHR recommends further independent and impartial investigations into violations and abuses related to the protests, with a view to supporting accountability. OHCHR stands ready to provide continued support and technical assistance to Bangladesh, including facilitating the follow-up and implementation of the recommendations of this report.OHCHR has developed its findings and recommendations based on online interviews with victims and 230 other Bangladeshis. A further 36 interviews were conducted with government, security and political party officials, including many former and current senior officials with first-hand experience of the incidents.
The data was verified through video and photo analysis, medical forensic analysis and weapons analysis, and other data analysis. OHCHR also investigates whether an incident or crime has occurred and there are reasonable grounds to believe that it has occurred. These standards of proof are less than those required to prove a crime in criminal proceedings. However, further criminal investigation by the competent authorities is required…Read the full content from the source
