The United Nations human rights office has estimated that as many as 1,400 people were killed in Bangladesh over a three-week period last summer during a violent crackdown on student-led protests against the now-ousted former prime minister.
In the report, the Geneva-based office asserted that security and intelligence services "systematically engaged" in human rights violations that could amount to crimes against humanity, warranting further investigation.
Citing "various credible sources," the report estimated that between 15 July and 5 August—when long-serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India amid the uprising—security forces killed up to 1,400 people.
Thousands more were injured in the weeks before and after the protests, with the vast majority of casualties resulting from gunfire by Bangladesh’s security forces, according to the report.
The document also revealed that over 11,700 people were detained, citing data from security services.
Alarmingly, between 12 and 13 per cent of those killed—approximately 180 individuals—were children.
The report further alleged that security forces engaged in summary executions, deliberately shooting unarmed protesters at point-blank range.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk highlighted signs that "extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture" were carried out with the knowledge and coordination of the political leadership and senior security officials, aimed at quelling the protests.
The UN fact-finding team was deployed to Bangladesh at the invitation of the country’s interim leader, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, to investigate the uprising and the subsequent state response.
The investigators also noted that the interim government had arrested 100 individuals in connection with attacks on religious and indigenous groups. However, the report pointed out that "many perpetrators of acts of revenge, violence, and attacks on distinct groups apparently continue to enjoy impunity."
Despite the change in government, the UN human rights office remains concerned about the country’s rights situation. "While the government has changed, the system has not necessarily changed," said Rory Mungoven, head of the rights office’s Asia-Pacific region. He warned that the continued presence of officials appointed under the previous regime could create "a potential conflict of interest" and hinder reforms and accountability.
The UN team issued several recommendations, including judicial reforms and the establishment of a witness protection programme. It also urged authorities to ban security forces from using lethal firearms to disperse crowds unless faced with "imminent threat of death or serious injury."
Following the publication of the report, Yunus reiterated his government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and stressed the need for reforms in law enforcement and the judiciary. "I call on everyone working inside these institutions to side with justice, the law, and the people of Bangladesh in holding to account their own peers and others who have broken the law and violated the human and civil rights of their fellow citizens," he said.
The protests initially emerged as a response to the reinstatement of a controversial quota system for government jobs following a High Court ruling in early June. However, the movement soon evolved into a broader uprising against Hasina’s government, driven by longstanding grievances over economic inequality and political repression.
