Brutal July crackdown by Hasina regime may amount to crimes against humanity: UN report

To cling on to power, the former Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government with all its political apparatus – including security and intelligence forces – used systematic and brutal violence against student-led mass protests in July-August last year, which a UN Human Rights Office report found could amount to crimes against humanity.

Based on testimony from senior officials and other evidence, the report, published yesterday, highlighted serious human rights violations by security forces during the protests, including extrajudicial killings, excessive use of force causing serious injuries to thousands, mass arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture and other mistreatment. 

These violations raise concerns under international criminal law, warranting further investigations to determine whether they amount to crimes against humanity, torture as a stand-alone crime, or serious violations under domestic law, according to the report.

Based on deaths reported by various credible sources, the report estimates that 1,400 people, around 12% of those were children, may have been killed between 1 July and 15 August last year, and over 13,500 were injured, the vast majority of whom were shot by Bangladesh's security forces. 

Bangladesh Police also reported that 44 of its members were killed.

"The testimonies and evidence we gathered paint a disturbing picture of rampant state violence and targeted killings, which are amongst the most serious violations of human rights, and which may also constitute international crimes. Accountability and justice are essential for national healing and for the future of Bangladesh," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at a press conference in Geneva yesterday, marking the release of the report.

The July protests were triggered by the High Court's decision to reinstate a quota system in public service jobs but were rooted in much broader grievances arising from destructive and corrupt politics and governance that had entrenched economic inequalities, the report said.

"The brutal response was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the former government to hold onto power in the face of mass opposition," said Türk.

At the request of Chief Adviser Mohammed Yunus, the UN Human Rights Office dispatched a team to Bangladesh in September, including human rights investigators, a forensics physician and a weapons expert, to conduct an independent and impartial fact-finding into the deadly events.

The UN said the interim government extended significant cooperation with the inquiry, granted the access that was requested, and provided substantial documentation.

Former senior officials directly involved in handling the protests and other inside sources described how the former prime minister and other senior officials directed and oversaw a series of large-scale operations, in which security and intelligence forces shot and killed protesters or arbitrarily arrested and tortured them.

The report found patterns of security forces deliberately and impermissibly killing or maiming protesters, including incidents where people were shot at point-blank range.

On 5 August – the final and one of the deadliest days of the protests – a 12-year-old boy who was shot by the police in Azampur recalled that police were "firing everywhere like rainfall". He described seeing at least a dozen dead bodies.

The UN examined in detail the emblematic case of Abu Sayed, among others, who was filmed shouting "shoot me" at police with his arms spread wide apart at a protest at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur.

The report concludes there are reasonable grounds to believe that Abu Sayed was the victim of a deliberate extrajudicial killing by the police.

Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal used the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as a strike force and even specifically demanded the deployment of more helicopters to scare protesters in the way that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had used them, it said.

The report also documents cases in which security forces denied or obstructed critical medical care for injured protesters, interrogated patients and collected their fingerprints in hospitals, intimidated medical personnel and seized hospital CCTV footage without due process, in an apparent effort to identify protesters and to conceal evidence of the extent of violence by state forces.

It also documented troubling instances of retaliatory killings and other serious revenge violence targeting Awami League officials and supporters, police and media, in the aftermath of the July uprising that toppled the Awami League government.

Violations and abuses found by the UN

The UN report identified numerous violations and abuses during and after the protests.

Violations during the protests included incited violence by armed Awami League supporters, excessive use of force by Police, RAB, and BGB — resulting in extrajudicial killings — along with the Army's involvement in excessive force. 

It also cited the use of helicopters to intimidate protesters and deploy potentially unlawful force, obstruction of medical care, and denial of necessary medical documentation. 

The report highlighted mass arbitrary arrests, detention without due process, torture and ill-treatment, attacks and intimidation of journalists, unjustified internet shutdowns without due process, and violations targeting women, girls, and children.

In the aftermath of the protests, the report found revenge abuses targeting police officers, Awami League members, police perceived to be aligned with the Awami League, and media personnel. 

It also included abuses against Indigenous people in Chittagong Hill tracts, attacks on Hindu homes, businesses, and places of worship, leading to displacement, and assaults on Ahmadiyya Muslims.

Recommendations 

The UN report provided a detailed set of recommendations to reform the security and justice sectors, abolish a host of repressive laws and institutions designed to stifle civic and political dissent and implement broader changes to the political system and economic governance.

Public order management must be reformed to emphasise de-escalation and the use of less lethal tactics. The use of shotgun pellets or other lethal ammunition for crowd control should be strictly prohibited, and police should immediately stop using metal pellet ammunition.

Additionally, outdated laws such as the Police Act of 1861 and the Police Regulations of Bengal should be replaced with human rights-compliant legislation. 

Police practices of mass criminal charges and arbitrary mass arrests must end, and the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act should be fully implemented. 

To prevent reliance on coerced confessions, police investigation techniques, orders, doctrines, and training must be reformed.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) should be disbanded, and the roles of the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) must be confined to their original mandates. 

The control of Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) should also be demilitarised. The Army should only be deployed for internal security in the most exceptional cases and strictly under civilian control. 

A national police commission should be established to ensure a fair, transparent, and merit-based process for police recruitment, promotions, transfers, and removals. 

Independent commissions must be created to investigate police violations, as well as to establish similar accountability and justice mechanisms for the Armed Forces and BGB. 

Serious violations and acts of revenge violence should be addressed through a fair and effective criminal justice system.

Concerns about due process and fair trials in the International Crimes Tribunal must be addressed. 

A moratorium on the death penalty should be introduced. 

Internet shutdowns should be regulated with clear criteria, transparency, judicial oversight, and proportionality. 

Political party bans that undermine democracy and disenfranchise voters must be avoided.

Measures should be taken to protect journalists, political activists, minority leaders, and human rights defenders. 

Special pre-election measures should be implemented to ensure free and genuine elections, providing a level playing field for all political parties and candidates.

Urgent measures should be taken to freeze, seize, and repatriate ill-gotten gains, including cooperation with foreign jurisdictions. 

Anti-corruption and anti-cartel laws must be strictly enforced, and the independence and effectiveness of the Anti-Corruption Commission should be enhanced. 

Workers' rights should be strengthened through amendments to the Labour Act. 

Additionally, tax reforms should be implemented to ensure a more equitable system and economic diversification should be promoted to create a more sustainable and resilient economy.

The UN also recommended that the Bangladesh government refrain from nominating military or police personnel for peacekeeping missions who have served with the RAB, DGFI, or Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch, or in BGB battalions deployed to the 2024 protests or other force-suppressed protests until a human rights screening mechanism is established. 

"The best way forward for Bangladesh is to face the horrific wrongs committed during this period, through a comprehensive process of truth-telling, healing and accountability, and to redress the legacy of serious human rights violations and ensure they can never happen again," Volker Türk said. 

"My Office stands ready to assist in this vital national accountability and reform process," the UN Human Rights chief added.