Bangladesh: UN says Sheikh Hasina's crackdown may be crime against humanity

Sheikh Hasina, deposed last year, is accused of putting down protests that left up to 1,400 people dead.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersCrackdown on Bangladesh protesters may be crime against humanity, UN says23 hours agoSimon FraserAsia editor, BBC News websiteGetty ImagesLast year's violence was the worst Bangladesh had seen since its 1971 war of independenceFormer Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her government tried to cling on to power using systematic, deadly violence against protesters that could amount to "crimes against humanity", the UN has said.

UN human rights investigators accused the deposed government of a brutal response to mass opposition last year, in which they said up to 1,400 people had been killed, mostly by security forces.

The UN team said "an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters" had been directed by political leaders and senior security officials.

Hasina, who had been in office for 15 years, fled by helicopter to India shortly before crowds stormed her residence last August.

The unrest began as student-led protests against quotas in civil service jobs and escalated into a countrywide movement to oust Hasina and her Awami League party following a deadly police crackdown. Thousands more were injured in the worst violence Bangladesh has seen since its war of independence in 1971.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvqle40183o

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