Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fell amid the nationwide quota movement. However, a massacre was carried out to prevent the fall of the government by suppressing the movement. When the movement took a terrible turn at the cost of many lives, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country.
The UN fact-finding team is in Dhaka investigating the murders that took place during the mass uprising movement for two long months (July and August). The team is working on the fact-finding by conducting a silent investigation. Even though more than a month has passed, the team has not yet completed its work.
The concerned people said that it may take a long time to complete the investigation. They also believe that even after the team's fact-finding is complete, more teams may come later.
Anahita Ahmed, spokesperson for the UN Office in Bangladesh, told Barta24.com that they came from Geneva. First, a mission came, which is called the Scope mission. Their job was to map out the scope of the work. Those who have come now have come mainly to investigate, to collect all the information and record it. Some of them have left, while some are staying; they are there according to the scope of work and demand. It is not possible to say how long they will work right now. Since the investigation is still ongoing. It depends on how many cases are filed in the investigation or how many complaints or information are filed. This is how the work is going on.
He said that they are working in great secrecy. They are not communicating with anyone except those they are working with and about whom they are receiving complaints or information. They are working in great secrecy so that they can remain impartial and their work is not hindered.
In response to a question about how many investigation teams are currently working in the country, he said that we do not know. We, who are sitting in the UN Coordination Office, have no contact with any of us.
In response to a question about whether another team can come again after the work of the current fact-finding team is over, he said that there are many layers of information here. The government is saying one information. The coordinators are saying another information. This will have to be understood after verifying and sorting this information. If you have seen other investigations in the world, you will see that nothing is completed in one mission. All the missions have Volume-1, Volume-2 like this. So it depends on their work. If they can complete the work, then it will be completed in one mission. And if they cannot complete the work, and they receive more complaints than they had anticipated, then they may have to conduct more missions. There is no specific word on when the investigation may be completed. They said, you submit complaints to this address, submit information. Has this information given to them reached our remotest areas, or is it going so far? Is it as easy for a person to submit a complaint or information sitting in Dhaka, as it is in a remote area or district town? Everything depends on the collection of information.
It is known about the scope of work of the UN team that they will investigate human rights violations from July 1 to August 15. They will review the root causes of the incidents and make recommendations on what long-term steps can be taken to ensure justice and accountability.
Earlier, the UN team began its investigation into the human rights violations during the student-public movement on Tuesday (September 17). On that day, a three-member delegation met with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Towhid Hossain. Through this, the delegation's activities began.
When asked about this at the time, Foreign Affairs Advisor Towhid Hossain told reporters that a meeting had been held with the UN investigation team. We want them to investigate impartially.
At that time, sources said that the fact-finding team is responsible for uncovering the truth, identifying responsibilities; analyzing the root causes of human rights violations and making specific recommendations for Bangladesh to prevent past human rights violations and their recurrence. The investigation team was supposed to interview affected persons, law enforcement officials, medical professionals and eyewitnesses of the incident for a month. After conducting on-site examinations and analyzing data, the UN Human Rights Office was informed that a detailed human rights report would be published with the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the investigation.