The United Nations high officials have called on Bangladesh to urgently disclose the details of the past week’s crackdown on protests amid accounts of ‘horrific violence’, calling for ‘an impartial, independent and transparent investigation’.
‘We understand that many people were subjected to violent attacks by groups reportedly affiliated with the Government, and no effort was made to protect them,’ Agence France-Presse reported from Geneva quoting UN rights chief Volker Turk as saying in a statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN secretary-general António Guterres, has said that all acts of violence during the peaceful student demonstrations in Bangladesh should be probed impartially.
‘I think we have been extremely clear in expressing our concern about what is happening in Bangladesh,’ he told a press briefing in the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
Last week’s violence killed at least 193 people including several police officers, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals, in one of the biggest upheavals in Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year tenure.
The unrest was sparked by protests against a public job quota scheme that critics say gives preference to allies of Hasina’s ruling party.
Thousands of troops are still patrolling cities and a nationwide internet shutdown remains largely in effect, but clashes have subsided since protest leaders announced a temporary halt to demonstrations.
Turk’s statement lamented over reports that some of the more than 1,000 injured in last week’s crackdown were denied medical care, while many people remained missing.
‘At least two journalists were reportedly killed and scores of others injured. Hundreds of people were also reportedly arrested, including opposition figures,’ the statement said.
The government, it said, ‘must provide the details of those killed, injured, or detained for the benefit of their families’.
About the mass arrest, the killings, the spokesperson said that they had seen it was very important that people demonstrate peacefully and the authorities guarantee that right for peaceful demonstration enshrined in international human rights law.
‘All acts of violence should be investigated in a transparent and credible manner. People need to be held accountable…There needs to be the creation of an environment that is conducive to dialogue,’ the spokesperson said.
He said that they were very concerned about the recent incidents in Bangladesh including the use of live ammunition by security forces.
Regarding Bangladeshi’s role in UN peacekeeping, Stéphane Dujarric said that the policy on human rights screening for UN personnel places primary responsibilities on member states to ensure that the personnel they nominate for deployment have not been involved in past violation of international humanitarian human rights law or have been repatriated from UN operation.
‘We obviously remain engaged with the national authorities on this issue and we want to ensure that all measures are being taken to comply with the requirements of our human rights policy,’ he said.  Â
