Volker Turk to present UN fact-finding report on Bangladesh in Geneva tomorrow

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk will present the United Nations human rights fact-finding report on human rights violations and abuses related to the protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh tomorrow (5 March).

The event will be broadcast live from Geneva on YouTube https://youtube.com/live/szaCueW3WLs at 6pm (Bangladesh time), said an official at the UN today (4 March).

The team will discuss with member states and civil society on the findings and recommendations to promote accountability, justice, and human rights reforms in Bangladesh.

The interim government of Bangladesh and civil society representatives from Bangladesh will participate in the event.

Yesterday, Volker Turk hoped that their recent independent fact-finding report will support truth-telling, accountability, reparations, healing and reform in Bangladesh.

"It will be crucial to ensure due process in criminal cases and investigate revenge violence, including against minorities," he said, while sharing a global update at the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Turk said Bangladesh last year experienced a paroxysm of violence as the government of the time "brutally suppressed" a student movement that carried human rights as its torch.

"The country is now charting a new future," he said, adding that their recent independent fact-finding report on the grave human rights violations that took place is an "important contribution" to this journey.

UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Gwyn Lewis on Sunday informed Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus that Türk will brief the member states about its findings tomorrow during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

Yunus stressed documenting all "atrocities" committed during the regime of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.