Human rights violations: UN to deploy fact-finding team in coming weeks

The UN Human Rights Office will deploy a fact-finding team to Bangladesh in the coming weeks to conduct an impartial and independent fact-finding mission into human rights violations committed between July 1 and August 5.

The decision comes after Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus extended an invitation to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani made the announcement at a briefing in Geneva today.

The fact-finding mission will report on violations and abuses perpetrated during the protests, analyse root causes, and make recommendations to advance justice and accountability, and for longer-term reforms.

An advance team visited the country from August 22 to 29, meeting student leaders of the recent protests, many of whom were detained or injured in recent weeks.

The team also met many advisers to the interim government, the chief justice, senior officers of the police and armed forces, lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders, representatives of political parties, and minority and indigenous communities.

In its meetings, the 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 whichthe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) could provide sustained support.

Ravina said Turk warmly welcomed the announcement of Bangladesh yesterday signing the instrument of accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the establishment of a five-member national inquiry commission 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," she said.

"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 spokesperson said.

The UN Human Rights Office looks forward to supporting the interim government and people of Bangladesh at this pivotal moment to revitalise democracy, seek accountability and reconciliation, and advance human rights for all the people in Bangladesh, she added.