- The report stresses the need to quickly restore public order.
- Turk says Bangladesh's transition can ensure good governance.
- “Accountability for violations is key to moving forward,” she said.
GENEVA: After more than a month of violence in Bangladesh following anti-government protests, the United Nations said on Friday there were “strong indications” that Bangladeshi security forces used “unnecessary force” to confront the student-led uprising that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, 76, fled to neighbouring India by helicopter last week as protesters flooded the streets of Dhaka in a dramatic end to her 15-year ironclad rule.
More than 450 people died in the weeks of protests leading up to his ouster on August 5.
Hasina's government has been accused of many abuses during her 15 years in power, including mass detention and extrajudicial killing of political opponents.
“There are strong indications, warranting further independent investigation, that the security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force in their response to the situation,” the UN human rights office said in a preliminary report.
“The alleged violations included extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, and severe restrictions on the exercise of freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.”
The report stressed the need to quickly restore public order and prevent further loss of life, violence and acts of retaliation.
The interim government replacing Hasina, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has invited UN investigators to probe the violent “atrocities” that accompanied her ouster.
Yunus, 84, returned from Europe last week to head a caretaker administration that faces the monumental challenge of shepherding democratic reforms.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the transition in Bangladesh was an opportunity to ensure governance was based on rights and the rule of law.
“The coming transition presents a historic opportunity to reform and revitalize the country's institutions, restore fundamental freedoms and civic space, and give all Bangladeshis a role in shaping the future,” he said.
“Accountability for violations and justice for victims are key to the future and must be accompanied by a process of national healing,” she said.
