UN to probe atrocities during Bangladesh’s deadly protests

A United Nations fact-finding mission is expected to arrive in Dhaka next week, according to information on Thursday, to probe alleged atrocities committed during the violent protests that ousted the government led by Sheikh Hasina earlier this month.

The UN is working on the modalities and terms of reference for the mission, Gwyn Lewis, the UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh, said after a meeting with Touhid Hossain, the foreign affairs adviser to the interim government, in Dhaka.

“The mission will act independently,” she told reporters.

The government will extend every-possible assistance the UN to make the investigation credible and impartial, Hossain told a news conference after meeting the UN official.

Earlier, the government announced that the UN would probe the atrocities after a phone conversation between Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus and UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Wednesday.

More than 500 people were reportedly killed in violence during the weeks of nationwide student protests in July to demand to an end to the controversial job quota system, and that eventually turned into mass uprising, forcing Hasina to step down.

On August 5, Hasina resigned and fled to neighbouring India by a military helicopter, upon which protesters carried out further attacks on public establishments, and homes and businesses owned by Hasina loyalists and minority Hindus across Bangladesh.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammad Yunus took over as head of an interim administration three days after Hasina resigned.

Local authorities have launched investigations into allegations of murders, genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the deposed prime minister Hasina, her cabinet colleagues and top security officials over their handling of the protests.