UN Human Rights Remembers Bangladesh Protests, Urges Accountability and Justice One Year On – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Turk.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said in a message , Today, we remember the courage and resilience of the people of Bangladesh, who courageously took to the streets one year ago to protest against discrimination, injustice and repression, and to demand their fundamental human rights.
Many of the protestors were students and young people, and I had a chance to meet them when I visited Bangladesh last year. I honour the memory of those who were killed, and the thousands more who suffered life-changing injuries.
These protests were a powerful expression of determination to move away from the spiraling inequalities and human rights violations of the past, towards a more just and inclusive society.
The request from the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government, Professor Muhammad Yunus, for my Office to conduct an independent and impartial Fact-Finding Mission into these events, spoke to the same determination to build a better future.
The Fact-Finding Mission reported on systematic and serious human rights abuses.
It found that the former Government and its security and intelligence services engaged in a coordinated strategy to hold on to power at all costs. And it made a detailed series of recommendations to ensure accountability and justice, which are essential in themselves, and vital to national healing.
I welcome efforts by the Interim Government to move those recommendations forward. Today is an important moment of reflection on how that can be achieved.
First, there needs to be accountability for these violations and crimes. That accountability needs to be in line with fair trial guarantees, rooted in international human rights law. It must not repeat past cycles of retributive justice, including the use of the death penalty.
Second, a comprehensive approach to transitional justice is needed, including truth seeking and reparations for the abuses of the past. This begins with a national dialogue involving victims, families and ordinary citizens.
Third, Bangladesh needs legal and institutional reforms, including to the security sector, so that this can never happen again. The repressive laws and institutions that enabled these violations must either be dismantled, or completely overhauled.
Today, as we remember the protestors who paid the ultimate price for their dream of a different future for the country, it is a moment to recommit to fundamental change.
My Office is fully prepared and ready to support the Government and people of Bangladesh country to achieve that vision.