UN Investigates Violent Crackdown in Bangladesh as Potential Crimes Against Humanity

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The United Nations has estimated that approximately 1,400 people were killed during last year's anti-government protests in Bangladesh, primarily at the hands of security forces. UN human rights investigators allege that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government employed "an official policy to attack and violently repress" dissent, which may constitute crimes against humanity.

This violence, the worst since Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence, escalated from student-led protests against job quotas into widespread demonstrations against Hasina's Awami League Party. According to the report, the government response included shooting protesters at point-blank range, arbitrary arrests, and torture, with children comprising 13% of those killed.

The investigation was initiated at the request of Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh's caretaker leader. While most accountability focuses on government forces, the report also calls for investigations into violence against individuals perceived as supporters of the former regime and various religious and ethnic groups. Following the protests, Sheikh Hasina fled to India and has since been issued an arrest warrant in Bangladesh.

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