ICRF: OHCHR narrative is super biased, it blames Awami League for everything

A voluntary team has prepared a rebuttal to the OHCHR report on the July-August riots in Bangladesh last year. The International Crimes Research Foundation (ICRF) oversaw the effort of a team of 40 barristers and lawyers, journalists and activists.

Explaining the process, Barrister and Solicitor Nijhoom Majumder has said that the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was prepared by its chief, Volker Turk’s fact-finding mission, along with the Jamaat-Shibir members and the July terrorists or July Warriors.

In a video published from Washington on Tuesday night, the human rights activist said that, for a strange reason—or for a reason that is relevant to them—what they did, everything that happened in the report during that entire period, they blamed the Awami League for everything that happened. They are saying that there were murders there on the orders of the Bangladesh Awami League; this happened, that happened, various kinds of things. Then they published a 114-page report.

For a long time, members of the ICRF—about 40-50 volunteers and numerous anonymous individuals—took the initiative to prepare a counter-report. “By counter-report, we mean the report that Volker Turk published, how true it is, the methodology he applied, the information and facts he provided, how true it is—we also investigated all these things on behalf of this organisation.”

Regarding the shortcomings of the OHCHR report, the social media influencer said that during the preparation of this entire report, no statement of any minister, MP, police officer, or any official concerned was taken at that time. The facts that have been stated are false.

“Then the descriptions that have been given are super biased. Even the methodology that they have applied, their primary sources, secondary sources, and their links—we have seen countless discrepancies.”

He said that the ICRF report was finally ready on Monday after making a lot of changes and additions to it. “The rebuttal part of this report is 192 pages. And 305 pages are the appendix that accompanies what we call the evidence we submitted.”

The rebuttal has been given, considering all these things thoroughly. The flaws in every paragraph of the OHCHR report have been identified, he said, thanking the contributors for collectively publishing this “great report.”

Nijhoom Majumder revealed that they will now spread the report to different parts of the world, telling the people, the governments and international organisations how a United Nations body prepares such false reports, how they distort facts, how they lie, and how they take a side.

Report: 528 Awami League leaders, activists killed since July 2024

Custodial Death: 31 Awami League leaders, activists killed in 14 months

ICT-BD: OHCHR Dhaka rep Huma Khan’s dubious role raises eyebrows

The Awami League has trashed the OHCHR report and demanded a thorough investigation, condemning bias due to the coercion of the Yunus gang with Volker Turk and UN Resident Representative Gwyn Lewis, and the Soros corporations, a major player of the US deep state.

It has prepared lists of 528 Awami League leaders, workers and supporters killed since July last year and another 31 party members killed in police custody and prisons.

On the other hand, the Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG) published a report on September 29, 2025, dismantling the OHCHR report’s credibility, labelling 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 their 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.

Momen blasts UN

Former Foreign Minister and former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, Professor Dr. AK Abdul Momen, has made an urgent appeal to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an independent and transparent investigation into the report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCHR) on the protests and violence in July-August 2024.

In a strongly worded letter to Secretary-General Guterres dated October 20, 2025, Dr. Momen described the OHCHR report as based on “factual inconsistencies” and “biased narratives.”

He expressed concern that the report was undermining the credibility of the UN and further fueling political instability in the country by encouraging an “unelected regime.”

Dr. Momen warned that the OHCHR’s flawed report has fueled political manipulation. It has pushed Bangladesh, which has made remarkable progress in development and poverty alleviation, to the brink of humanitarian, economic and social collapse.

Dr. Momen noted in his letter that the International Criminal Tribunal for Bangladesh had recommended the arrest of 25 senior military officers based on the OHCHR report. Many of these officials have served with great efficiency in UN peacekeeping missions.

He alleged that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has directed the Bangladesh government to refer these officials to a “Kangaroo Tribunal,” which changes its rules without following any procedural rules.

Momen argued that while accountability and justice are essential, the UN should uphold the principles of impartiality and accuracy. But the OHCHR report lacks objectivity and due process.

He stressed that by omitting important facts, the OHCHR report is hiding the real criminals and is portraying those who were engaged in maintaining law and order as criminals.

Sheikh Hasina’s challenge

Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also challenged the OHCHR to prove its claim of 1,400 deaths during the anarchy that ended in the attack on Ganabhaban on August 5.

During a virtual meeting, she also called for a proper investigation into the deaths to unearth the mystery behind the “meticulously designed” killings of protesters, ordinary people, and the police, orchestrated by Muhammad Yunus and his gang.

She also criticised the Jamaat-controlled interim government for declaring indemnity for the killings and other crimes committed against the police and Awami League leaders and activists and vowed to ensure justice when her party returns to power.

“When six people were killed [on July 16], I ordered the formation of a judicial inquiry committee and asked the United Nations to investigate the deaths. Why would I have formed the inquiry committee had I ordered the murders?

“I did it because I wanted to know how these killings took place and who killed them. Our police force did not use such lethal bullets,” she said, blaming Yunus for the planned murders using 7.62-grade bullets.

Sheikh Hasina said the UN and London-based human rights group Amnesty International should thoroughly investigate each death during the protest and post-August 5 period, exhume the bodies, and conduct forensics.

Mauda Bhatti’s post-mortem of OHCHR’s cooked report

Senior journalist Masuda Bhatti has slammed the OHCHR for its partisan report on Bangladesh’s anti-government violence, saying that the UN body has presented ambiguous and partial information so that the US deep state-backed interim government can hang Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Why did the UN give this government a false report against Sheikh Hasina? The job of the UN institutions and the OHCHR was to monitor the human rights situation in Bangladesh and regularly verify the factual information as per their TOR and inform the people and the media.

“But they have practically ignored what has happened since August 15, 2024 and hundreds of people have been burned or beaten to death, many have been killed in prisons, thousands or millions of ordinary people and Awami League supporters have been detained in prisons without trial, torture and reprisals are ongoing, the interim government is not following important recommendations like national dialogue and not banning the party, yet the UN is silent. It has been almost 14 months, and there is no protest. There is no discussion of any kind.”

She asked whether the UN has been silent like this in any other country. “Did they give such a report on the massacre in Gaza or the humanitarian disaster in Yemen? But why did they give such a terrible report on Bangladesh on the basis of which the UN hatched a plot to kill Sheikh Hasina and other Awami League leaders without trial?”

The story of 52 fake martyrs and as many false murder cases

In her latest video, Masuda Bhatti said that in the context of Bangladesh, what Sheikh Hasina’s government did in July 2024 to protect the state from terrorists or to protect the state from extremists’ takeover is what any developed country would have done.

Regarding the number of deaths and the errors in the information, Masuda Bhatti said that the OHCHR has claimed that 1,400 people were killed in the July-August movement but has failed to explain where this number came from.

According to the information of the Ministry of Health, 826 people were killed, according to the information of the NSI, 314 people were killed. Together, these two figures come to 1155 people or 1155. Still, they say 1400 without verification.

Moreover, the daily Prothom Alo has found that at least 52 of them were killed in other incidents unrelated to the anti-government protests.

“They took a sample from the forensic reports of 130 deaths at Dhaka Medical College and assumed that all deaths were similar. It said that 78% of the deaths were caused by state weapons. But the issue of weapons coming from inside and outside the country, snipers, rifles and other firearms in the hands of the protesters has been completely left out.