By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA) - The UN human rights office on Wednesday called on Bangladesh to refrain from banning any political party ahead of possible general elections.
The transitional government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, formed on Aug. 8 after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India at the height of student protests, is expected to hold elections by the end of this year.
“Refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multiparty democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a detailed report on the political turmoil that has gripped the South Asian nation.
A UN team of human rights experts visited Bangladesh after Hasina’s fall, which marked the end of the Awami League’s 15-year rule.
While the transitional government has suggested that elections could be delayed until next year, political parties continue to press Yunus’s administration to hold them as soon as possible.
The 114-page report by the UN human rights office estimates that as many as 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year during the protests, with 12% of them children.
It recommended judicial and police reforms and urged authorities to drop charges against journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, civil society activists, and other human rights defenders.
The report also emphasized the need for a “fair, impartial and comprehensive investigative process” and called for ensuring judicial independence and protecting the rights of journalists, Awami League supporters, minority leaders, and others engaged in civic or political dissent.
According to Bangladesh’s transitional government, around 1,000 people were killed and more than 22,000 injured during the uprising against Hasina’s government.
Last weekend, a security crackdown was launched in Bangladesh after the ousted leader appeared in a Facebook broadcast from neighboring India, triggering violent protests.
Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, head of the interim government’s Interior Ministry, dubbed the operation "Devil Hunt," telling reporters it would continue "until we uproot the devils."
Security forces arrested 1,308 people nationwide between Saturday night and noon Sunday, most of them reportedly linked to Hasina’s Awami League party.
Dhaka-based human rights group Odhikar on Wednesday reported that at least a dozen people had died in detention since last year’s student uprising, with causes including torture and gunshot wounds.