The United Nations reported estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over a three-week period last summer during a crackdown on student-led protests against the now-ousted former prime minister.
In a newly released report by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the office stated that security and intelligence forces “systematically engaged” in human rights violations, which could constitute crimes against humanity and warrant further investigation.
The protests began as a student-led movement opposing government job quotas but quickly grew into a nationwide uprising against then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rule. In response, security forces launched a brutal crackdown between July 15 and August 5, 2024, using extreme measures such as shooting protesters at point-blank range and running them over with anti-riot vehicles.
The violent repression ultimately led to Hasina’s downfall, forcing her to flee to India on August 5.
According to the report, Bangladesh’s security forces, acting under direct orders from senior government officials, engaged in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture to suppress the uprising.
The report states that between 12% and 13% of those killed were minors, while thousands more suffered life-altering injuries from military-grade weapons fired at close range. Additionally, over 11,700 people were detained, with many still unaccounted for.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the findings are “deeply disturbing” and show “targeted state violence of a scale rarely seen.”
The U.N. fact-finding mission, which was invited to Bangladesh by interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus, conducted more than 230 interviews and analyzed video and geolocation data to reconstruct the events.
Witnesses described police and military forces indiscriminately firing into crowds, dragging injured protesters away, and torturing detainees. One survivor recounted how an officer shot a wounded demonstrator she was holding in her arms before turning the gun on her.
Since fleeing Bangladesh, Hasina has remained under the protection of the Indian government, a key ally during her tenure. Yunus has formally requested Hasina’s extradition on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, but India has not responded.
