UN investigators arrived in Dhaka have planned to set up a probe of hundreds of deaths during Bangladesh’s recent student-led protests, which led its longtime prime minister to step down.
Initially peaceful demonstrations started in early July, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions. Two weeks later, they were met with a violent crackdown by security forces and a communications blackout.
In early August, as protesters defied nationwide curfew rules and stormed government buildings, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, ending 15 years in power.
The new interim administration, led by the Nobel-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has pledged to cooperate with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to deliver justice and accountability for all the violence committed during the month-long uprising.
The chief of the Asia Pacific region at the OHCHR, Rory Mungoven, is leading the three-member team, which met Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen after arrival in Dhaka.
He said the visit aimed at holding “preliminary discussions” with the government.
