Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam at the weekly media briefing. Photo: MoFA

DHAKA, Feb 13, 2025 (BSS) – Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry today expressed gratitude to the Fact-Finding Team of the United Nations Human Rights Office for its comprehensive work in preparing the detailed report on human rights violations during the student-led uprising in July-August 2024.

“We thank the Fact-Finding Team and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for their comprehensive work and detailed report,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said at the weekly media briefing this afternoon.

Alam said the Fact-Finding Team visited various locations in Bangladesh linked to human rights violations and conducted interviews with victims, eyewitnesses, political party members, law enforcement personnel, and other relevant stakeholders.

“In response to the team’s call for information, 959 individuals and organizations submitted data,” Alam added.

During the investigation, he said, the team also requested information from different agencies of the Bangladesh government, which provided the requested data. The Fact-Finding Team included forensic experts, legal analysts, firearms specialists, and other relevant specialists.

Through verification and analysis of the collected data, the UN report revealed that approximately 1,400 people, including 13 women, were killed between July 15 and August 5 in 2024. Among the victims, about 12 were children.

Forensic examinations of 130 deaths showed that around 78 percent of the fatalities were caused by firearms commonly used by state security forces.

“The report highlighted that serious human rights violations occurred between July 15 and August 5 as security forces and armed supporters of the Awami League resorted to unlawful methods to suppress protests in an effort to maintain power at all costs,” Alam said.

According to the report, these incidents were carried out with the knowledge, coordination, and directives of the political leadership of the then-ruling Awami League, using police, paramilitary forces, military, and intelligence agencies.

Based on the collected information, the UN Fact-Finding Team concluded that the human rights violations during the specified period constituted crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute. 

“The report also linked these incidents to the political leadership of the then-government, specifically the Awami League (Paragraphs 290-292),” said the spokesperson. 

According to the mandate of the Fact-Finding Team, the UN report includes accountability assessments, cause analysis, and recommendations to prevent future occurrences of such incidents.
At the invitation of Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Mohammad Yunus, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sent an independent and impartial Fact-Finding Team to investigate serious human rights violations that took place during the July-August 2024 uprising in Bangladesh.

The Fact-Finding Team began its activities on September 16 last year. After nearly five months of independent investigation, they released their report on Wednesday, detailing human rights violations that occurred in Bangladesh between July 1 and August 15, 2024.