Dhaka, Aug 31 (Representative) The United Nations Human Rights Office has decided to deploy a fact-finding team to Bangladesh to investigate human rights breaches occurring between July 1 and August 15, media reports said. “The office will deploy a fact-finding team to Bangladesh in the coming weeks, with a view to reporting on violations and abuses perpetrated during the protests, analysing root causes, and making recommendations to advance justice and accountability and for longer-term reforms,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement on Friday. The decision follows a team’s visit from August 22 to 29, during which they engaged with several stakeholders, including advisers to the interim administration, Dhaka Tribune quoted. Earlier, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk got a formal invitation from Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus to lead an impartial and objective fact-finding mission into human rights breaches that occurred between July 1 and August 15.
Meanwhile, during its visit, the UN delegation reviewed the procedures for conducting an inquiry into human rights violations and abuses in light of the recent violence and instability, as requested by the interim administration.It also addressed broader issues such as civic space, the need for truth, justice, healing, reparation, and reconciliation, as well as other human rights approaches to the reform process for which the UN Human Rights Office may give ongoing support. They met with the interim government’s advisers, the chief justice, senior police and military officers, attorneys, journalists, human rights defenders, and members from political parties and minority populations.”The team received commitments from the interim government and security forces for full cooperation in this work,” the spokesperson said.
The UN High Commissioner also welcomed Bangladesh’s decision to join the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on Thursday, as well as the formation of a five-member national commission of inquiry to determine the whereabouts of individuals allegedly forcibly disappeared by law enforcement. “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. 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 UN office is eager to assist Bangladesh’s interim administration and people at this critical juncture in their efforts to revitalise democracy, seek accountability and reconciliation, and advance human rights for all Bangladeshis, according to a spokeswoman.