The Bangladesh interim government should seek a resolution in the forthcoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent mechanism to investigate and pursue accountability for recent grave human rights abuses in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus and other government officials.
In a press release, the HRW said on Tuesday that the council should also ensure ongoing monitoring of Bangladesh鈥檚 human rights situation by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and establish regular reporting back to the council.
The 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council will begin on September 9.
The interim government should also work with OHCHR and relevant UN experts to set up an independent domestic inquiry into enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings during former prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 15-year administration, HRW said.
It said that this domestic mechanism should operate with UN support and oversight to ensure its independence and adherence to international human rights standards.
鈥楩ollowing former prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 resignation amid mass protests, Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government has the heavy responsibility for accounting for the past to steer the country towards a rights-respecting future,鈥� said Lucy McKernan, deputy UN Geneva director at Human Rights Watch.
鈥楾he government should support a Human Rights Council-backed investigation into recent abuses while also seeking UN backing for an independent domestic inquiry into the former government鈥檚 15 years of rights violations,鈥� he said.
It also said that the interim government should urgently implement measures to bring civilian oversight over security forces, disband the notorious Rapid Action Battalion, reform institutions in line with international human rights standards, and revise abusive laws.
The crackdown on protests leading to Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 departure was the deadliest in Bangladesh鈥檚 recent history, it said, adding that at least 440 people were killed and thousands were injured between July 15 and August 5, with most deaths and injuries attributed to excessive force by law enforcement and violence by student and youth groups affiliated with the Awami League.
An estimated additional 250 people died after August 5, mostly in violent reprisals against Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 supporters.
Since taking office, the interim government has replaced officials who had allegedly engaged in political partisanship, it said.
The Supreme Court chief justice stepped down after protests demanding his resignation, it said, adding that law enforcement had collapsed after the Hasina government鈥檚 fall, leaving Hindus and other minority communities at risk of violence, but the interim government has said that most police stations are now functioning.
鈥楬owever, activists fear that the authorities are replicating the abuses of the previous government by arbitrarily arresting Awami League officials and supporters, including journalists, and denying due process and proper access to legal counsel,鈥� HRW said.
#
