Musammad M Tamanna from New York

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his concerns over emerging reports about the ‘excessive use of force and human rights violations’ in Bangladesh surrounding the quota reform movement.

Stating his concerns, the UN secretary general’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at a press conference in New York on Monday that, “He is alarmed by emerging reports about the excessive use of force by security forces and credible evidence of human rights violations.”

He said, “The secretary-general remains deeply concerned about the situation in Bangladesh. He notes reports of the resumption of student protests today [Monday] and reiterates his call for calm and restraint.”
“The secretary-general is concerned about reported mass arrests of thousands of young people and political opposition in connection with the current student movement. He underscores the importance of due process and the right to freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly.”

Guterres also repeated his call for all acts of violence to be investigated ‘promptly, transparently, and impartially’, and for those responsible to be held to account.

Students and job seekers revived the quota reform movement at the start of July after the High Court declared a 2018 circular scrapping the quota system for government jobs was invalid. The scope and scale of the protests gradually increased.

The situation changed on Jul 15 when the Chhatra League clashed with quota protesters on the Dhaka University campus. The following day, reports said that six people were killed in clashes in Dhaka, Chattogram, and Rangpur.

In response to the violence, the protesters declared a ‘complete shutdown’ programme on Jul 18. Students from private universities, schools and colleges took to the streets in solidarity with the quota movement that day. Many rumours swirled across the country and attacks were carried out on several state agencies and government property. The death toll began to tick up.

Attackers vandalised and torched the BTV building in Rampura, two metro rail stations, the Setu Bhaban in Banani, the Directorate of Disaster Management in Mohakhali and the Directorate of Health Services. Power substations were attacked too.

The following day, the violence worsened across the country. Eventually the government imposed a curfew and deployed the army. The government announced three days of general holidays in two rounds as the country nearly came to a standstill.

Various media outlets have reported that over 200 people were killed in the violence over the past week, but the government’s count says the toll is 150.

Dujarric said, “We continue to raise our concerns about the situation in the country with relevant authorities, both in the capital, Dhaka, and here in New York, and we count on Bangladesh to respect and uphold human rights, including as a top troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping missions.”

The UN representative said the agency has taken note of the statements by the Bangladeshi authorities that UN-marked vehicles are no longer being deployed within Bangladesh.

He gave a reminder and reiterated that UN troop- and police-contributing countries are to use UN insignia and equipment marked with the UN logo only when they are performing mandated tasks as UN peacekeepers in the context of their deployment within a UN peacekeeping operation.

Responding to a question regarding the agency’s assistance to compensate for the destruction of public and private properties in Bangladesh, Dujarric said, “We are always ready to help any country to promote dialogue in a time of crisis.

“The UN is not involved in any compensation scheme for people who, sadly, lose property or family members during demonstrations anywhere in the world.”

In response to another question over the UN’s intervention in the investigation of the acts of violence, the spokesperson said, “The secretary-general is always ready to provide support within the scope of his mandate.”