U.N. Team to Discuss Investigation into Bangladesh’s Deadly Protests
By Human Rights Press Staff
August 22, 2024
A United Nations delegation will meet Bangladesh’s interim government and other key parties starting Thursday to discuss the process of investigating alleged human rights violations during recent violent protests. According to officials, around 300 people, many of them students, were killed in the unrest that began in July over government job quotas and escalated into a movement to oust former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Following the protests, an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus took office after Hasina fled to New Delhi. The U.N. team, from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, will visit Dhaka from September 22-29. “The purpose of this visit is to understand their priorities for assistance in promoting human rights,” stated the U.N., clarifying that this visit is not an investigation but a discussion on how to proceed with one.
Rory Mungoven, head of the Asia Pacific region at the U.N., led the team and met with Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen, on Thursday, according to Reuters. U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk recently called Yunus and assured that a formal investigation into the killings would begin “very soon,” as Yunus’ office confirmed. A separate fact-finding mission is expected to follow after finalizing details.
