Staff Reporter:
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain yesterday said the interim government would not interfere in the United Nations fact-finding mission’s investigation into human rights violation during the recent protests in Bangladesh.
“We want to ensure that they (UN team) can conduct their investigation independently. We will not in-terfere,” he told reporters at the foreign ministry here yesterday.
The foreign adviser said that the UN team had a courtesy meeting with him, during which they conveyed their intention to begin their investigation in Bangladesh shortly.
“The UN team prefers to avoid publicity as they seek to operate neutrally,” he said.
Hossian said that Bangladesh government would offer support to the UN fact-finding mission if they sought.
The foreign minister clarified that the fact-finding team, which recently arrived in the country, has yet to start its formal activities.
The United Nations Human Rights Office emphasized that the fact-finding mission is not a criminal in-vestigation and it operates independently of any national judicial processes.
The investigation is confidential, and the team will not be engaging with the media during its inquiry.
“We appeal for respect for the confidentiality of the fact-finding process,” a UN Human Rights Office spokesperson said earlier.
At the invitation of the Bangladesh interim government, a UN Human Rights Office fact-finding team is conducting an independent and impartial investigation into alleged human rights violations that took place between July 1 and August 15 this year arising from the recent protests.
The fact-finding team is mandated to establish facts, identify responsibilities, analyze root causes, and make concrete recommendations for Bangladesh to address past human rights violations and prevent their recurrence, according to a UN Human Rights Office press release.
Individuals, groups, and organizations are invited to provide first-hand information that is not already on social media or otherwise in the public domain concerning the period of July 1 to August 15, 2024 and human rights violations and abuses in the context of the protests during that period, it added.
Submissions should be sent to OHCHR-FFTB- Submissions@un.org, said the release.
The team also plans to conduct interviews with victims, law enforcement officers, medical practitioners, and witnesses.
After its on-site examination and data analysis, the UN Human Rights Office will publish a detailed hu-man rights report containing key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
