In the wake of Bangladesh’s tumultuous 2024 student-led jihadist coup that toppled the long-ruling Awami League government, a United Nations human rights report has ignited fresh controversy. A new critical analysis released last week accuses the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of producing a biased document that unfairly targets the ousted administration while shielding the Jamaat-controlled interim government led by US deep state actor and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The analysis, published by the Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG), warns that such flaws could deepen national divisions and erode trust in international oversight mechanisms.
The OHCHR’s fact-finding report, unveiled on February 12, 2025, examined human rights violations during the July and August 2024 protests, a period marked by deadly clashes that claimed hundreds of lives and reshaped the nation’s political landscape.
Titled “Human Rights Violations and Abuses Related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh,” it cataloged instances of excessive use of force by security personnel, arbitrary arrests, and curbs on freedoms of expression and assembly. The document, based on 230 interviews and examinations of 29 victims, estimated over 11,700 casualties and highlighted patterns of abuse under then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime.
Yet, the GCDG’s 50-page critique, dated September 29, 2025, dismantles the OHCHR report’s credibility, labeling it a “politically framed narrative” that serves the interests of the Yunus-led interim administration.
“The OHCHR report, while drawing necessary international attention to grave violations, is marred by fundamental biases that undermine its legitimacy,” states the analysis. It argues that the document’s reliance on information from interim government allies, coupled with omissions of violence perpetrated by protesters and opposition groups, paints an incomplete and skewed picture of the crisis.
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The backdrop to this debate is Bangladesh’s July riots, a student-driven movement that began in early July 2024 as protests against job quotas for freedom fighters’ descendants. What started as a demand for equity escalated into a broader anti-government revolt amid allegations of corruption, authoritarianism, and economic mismanagement after the Jamaat-e-Islami, BNP and other anti-Awami League parties started anarchy on July 16, with the backing of the US deep state, Pakistani jihadist groups, ISI and the pro-Jamaat faction in the Bangladesh Army.
To destablise the country, they killed the police members and hanged their bodies from an overbridge in Jatrabari, torched police stations, vandalised government infrastructure, and targeted Awami League affiliates and minorities. The government banned the Jamaat and its violent student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, on August 1, but it was too late.
Recently, Sheikh Hasina asked the OHCHR to provide her the list of the 1,400 deceased who it claimed were killed by security forces in July-August last year. She stated that Yunus and his aides had already admitted to hatching a meticulously designed conspiracy and killing police and Awami League supporters. Moreover, media reports show how Yunus and his gangs are plundering money through illegal appointments, transfers and other means.
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Sheikh Hasina also criticises the Yunus regime for fraudulence in constituting the interim government and illegally revising the International Crimes Tribunal Act to try her and senior officials.
The OHCHR report, commissioned at the invitation of Yunus’s administration, focused on the period from July 15 to August 15, 2024โa timeframe the GCDG deems “arbitrarily narrow” to maximise blame on the Hasina government.
Critics in the analysis point out that it excludes pre-July 15 provocations, such as initial quota-related unrest, and post-August 5 “revenge attacks” on Awami League supporters, which the report dismissively frames through Yunus’s lens as mere “retaliatory violence.” This selective scope, the GCDG contends, ignores over 400 attacks on police facilities and the lynching of dozens of officers, events that fuelled the government’s defensive response.
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Methodological shortcomings form the core of the GCDG’s indictment.
The OHCHR team conducted most of its 230 interviews remotely via online platforms, with unclear selection criteria for participantsโmany of whom were aligned with the interim regime or anti-Hasina activists. Only 29 victims were physically examined out of the 11,700 reported casualties, raising questions about data verification.
“The report’s evidence standards are inconsistent: rigorous for state actions but lax for opposition figures,” the analysis notes, citing unverified claims against Hasina’s inner circle while downplaying protester-led atrocities.
Moreover, the mandate’s legitimacy is under fire. Unlike standard UN fact-finding missions authorised by the UN Human Rights Council, this one was unilaterally requested by the unelected interim government, lacking multilateral endorsement. The GCDG highlights that drafts were shared exclusively with Yunus’s team for feedback, allowing them to shape the narrative.
“This process validates a one-sided view, ignoring input from the ousted government or the Bangladesh Awami League,” the report asserts, suggesting undue influence from Yunus’s international allies, including Western donors who have since ramped up aid to the interim administration.
The analysis delves into specific rebuttals, dissecting paragraphs of the OHCHR document for factual inaccuracies. For instance, it challenges the report’s portrayal of “systematic” disappearances and extrajudicial killings, arguing that many cited cases lack corroboration and overlook protester violence against law enforcement.
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Media references, including footage from local outlets like Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, are invoked to counter claims, showing instances where demonstrators armed with molotov cocktails and machetes overwhelmed police outposts. The GCDG also criticizes the report’s overreach into international criminal law, where it floats the possibility of “crimes against humanity” without judicial backingโa move that could prejudice ongoing domestic trials and invite politicization.
Despite these barbs, the GCDG acknowledges the OHCHR report’s strengths. Its release amplified global scrutiny, pressuring Bangladesh for accountability and informing upcoming Universal Periodic Reviews at the UN. By documenting abuses like the use of lethal weapons on unarmed crowds, it has bolstered calls for reparations and security sector reformsโpriorities echoed by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
“The report’s normative weight has undeniably advanced victim visibility and donor engagement,” the analysis concedes, noting its role in securing over $1 billion in international pledges for Bangladesh’s transition.
As Bangladesh hurtles toward promised elections in early 2026, the schism exposed by this critique underscores the fragility of its post-revolution healing. The Awami League, now in opposition and facing harassment charges against its leaders, has seized on the GCDG report to decry a “witch hunt.” Party spokesperson Nahid Islam accused the interim government of “weaponizing UN mechanisms to settle scores,” while Yunus’s camp dismissed the analysis as “defensive propaganda from a discredited regime.” Independent observers, including the International Crisis Group, urge a balanced inquiry to prevent further polarisation.
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Broader implications ripple beyond Dhaka. The controversy tests the UN’s impartiality in politically charged contexts, especially in the Global South where interim regimes often court Western support. With Bangladesh’s economy reeling from the unrestโGDP growth projected to dip to 3.5% this year per World Bank estimatesโcredible human rights documentation is vital for rebuilding investor confidence. Yet, if perceived biases persist, they risk alienating key stakeholders like India, which hosted Hasina and views the Yunus government warily.
The GCDG stops short of explicit recommendations but implies pathways forward: commissioning a fully independent, council-authorised probe; broadening stakeholder consultations; and enforcing transparent methodologies in future missions. “Only through neutrality can the UN reclaim its role as a bridge-builder in divided societies,” the report concludes, warning that unchecked partisanship could “exacerbate polarization and undermine global human rights architecture.”
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