UN report on Bangladesh protests – Sheikh Hasina behind crimes against humanity during Bangladesh student protests says United Nations

The United Nations said the Sheikh Hasina-led regime in Bangladesh, which was toppled last year, was behind systematic attacks on protesters and oversaw “hundreds of extrajudicial killings”, AFP reported. The report, which is based on an inquiry into events in Bangladesh between July and August 15, 2024, estimated that around 1,400 protesters were killed, while thousands were injured.

Bangladesh was engulfed by protests and violence after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. The protests escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who was eventually forced to flee to India as agitators stormed her residence.

The UN said it had “reasonable grounds” to believe that the “crimes against humanity of murder, torture, imprisonment and infliction of other inhumane acts have taken place”. The report was based on over 230 interviews conducted in Bangladesh by human rights investigators and forensic experts with victims, witnesses, protest leaders, and activists.