UPDATE - UN urges Bangladesh to avoid political bans ahead of possible elections

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF, ADDS ADDITIONAL DECK

By Riyaz ul Khaliq and 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.

- ‘Brutal response strategy’ of Hasina government

In his remarks, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said: “There are reasonable grounds to believe hundreds of extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture, were carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security officials as part of a strategy to suppress the protests,” he said, referring to the government of Hasina, who faces cases of genocide and crimes against humanity in Dhaka.

“The brutal response was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the former government to hold onto power in the face of mass opposition,” he added.

Turk said the testimonies and evidence “we gathered paint a disturbing picture of rampant State violence and targeted killings, that are amongst the most serious violations of human rights, and which may also constitute international crimes. Accountability and justice are essential for national healing and for the future of Bangladesh.”

Hasina remain in India despite a formal extradition request from Dhaka.

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.