The abuses committed by the former Bangladeshi government stemmed from “a calculated effort [by the Awami League] to retain power at all costs, by employing unlawful means to repress the protests”, which the former government believed could “become a serious political threat” to their maintenance of power. The former prime minister had privately and publicly signalled that she would employ a militaristic response to the student demonstrators, with senior government ministers and high-profile members of the Awami League publicly echoing her approach to intimidating the protesters.
The OHCHR’s investigation found that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests—approximately 13 percent of them children—with the vast majority shot by military firearms. In various parts of the country, police, with armed support from the Chhatra League and the Awami League, used tear gas, rubber bullets, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, machetes, iron rods, and other lethal military-grade weapons against student protestors and civilians on university campuses.
“Chhatra League supporters regularly initiated violence against student protesters [and] specifically brought along weapons to sites of confrontation and positioned themselves in advance to attack student protesters”, the report states. Forensic examination of protest-related deaths conducted by Dhaka Medical College Forensic Department indicates that firearms used by government forces caused more than three-quarters of all killings. According to testimony from a senior government official at the time, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received daily reports and intelligence briefings on the protests, including evidence that security forces were using excessive force. Rather than intervening to stop it, she leveraged the situation to maintain her hold on power and approved actions to further militarise the government’s response against students and civilians.
Close to 4,000 border guards were deployed to 58 locations across the country. The entirety of the RAB, along with further paramilitary battalions from BGB and Asnar/VDP, were deployed. Thousands endured serious, frequently life-changing injuries and more than 11,700 people were arrested and detained. Based on the OHCHR’s findings, the human rights violations attributable to the former government include:
Violations of the right to life, the right to liberty and security of person, the right to freedom from torture and ill-treatment, the right of persons deprived of their liberty to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, the right to a fair trial, the right to privacy, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right of peaceful assembly, the right to nondiscrimination, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the rights of children, and the right to an effective remedy for human rights violations.
These findings indicate violations of international criminal law and warrant charges of crimes against humanity for extrajudicial killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, and sexual and gender-based violence. The report calls upon the appropriate domestic and international authorities to pursue criminal investigations with safeguards ensuring independence, impartiality, transparency, due process, oversight of all police operations, including searches and seizures, and safeguards against political interference. The report notes that the interim Bangladeshi government has started to pursue criminal prosecution, including 100 arrests for attacks against minorities.
The immediate priority is to compile and preserve relevant evidence and take disciplinary measures against any persons attempting to conceal or destroy evidence. The report states that efforts aimed at justice and accountability should also include the suspension of officials facing credible allegations, repealing immunity provisions for government officials, reparation for victims, memorialisation, and a truth-seeking commission to foster national healing. The OHCHR also called for a moratorium on the domestic application of the death penalty, including in the International Crimes Tribunal, with consideration for its complete abolition.
Furthermore, the report provides a list of recommendations beyond those within the justice sector, emphasising an urgent need for broader reform, including the abolition of “repressive laws and institutions designed to stifle civic and political dissent” and the implementation “of profound changes to Bangladesh’s political and economic governance systems”. It highlights many of the systemic issues that have plagued communities in Bangladesh and exacerbated underlying issues, including outdated laws enabling the disproportionate use of force and ongoing discrimination and marginalisation of minorities.
For instance, operational procedures of Bangladeshi law enforcement, which allow the use of firearms with lethal ammunition to disperse crowds, are part of the Police Regulations of Bengal of 1943 – a law that the OHCHR calls “an outdated, colonial-era piece of legislation” contrary to international law. The OCHR states that Bangladesh’s Police Regulations must be in line with international human rights law. Education and social services for rural and indigenous communities remained limited, contributing to low literacy rates and fewer economic opportunities for members of these communities. The report adds:
These systemic barriers [are] compounded by discriminatory practices in local governance, which often favoured the majority population in resource allocation, law enforcement and the justice system, leaving minority communities vulnerable, including to targeted violence, and without recourse to justice.
Women’s participation in public life and political matters continues to be subjected to gender stereotyping and discrimination practices, which exacerbate incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, including threats of rape against female protestors at the hands of perpetrators who feel emboldened by socially entrenched sexism. The report also states that revenge attacks against Hindu minorities occurred at the hands of members and supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami. These attacks included incidents and threats of physical violence, the burning of Hindu homes, the looting of Hindu-owned businesses, and the vandalisation of Hindu and other religious minorities’ places of worship – all of which contributed to a rise in displacement.
Attacks on religious and ethnic minorities have stemmed from Bangladesh’s institutionalised discrimination, including its 1972 Constitution, which marginalises non-Bengali cultural groups by designating ’Bengali’ as the national identity, and its constitutional amendments, which have established Islam as the state religion.
The OHCHR reiterated that it is ready and willing to provide capacity-building resources and technical assistance to Bangladesh and the interim government, including the implementation of the report’s recommendations. Human rights organisations have praised the UN’s report and called for continued collaboration between UN agencies and the interim Bangladeshi government.
To ensure lasting truth, justice, accountability, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence, the engagement with UN mechanisms and bodies must continue beyond this. Any failure to do so would be to turn our backs on the victims and survivors. – Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
Bibliography
Amnesty International. (2025, February 13). Bangladesh: Critical UN report must spur accountability and justice. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/02/bangladesh-critical-un-report-must-spur-accountability-and-justice/ (Accessed February 28, 2025).
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2025). Reporting of the OHCHR Fact-Finding Team on Human Rights Violations in Bangladesh. United Nations.
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