UN ready to assist Bangladesh govt for violence probe

The United Nations is ready to assist the Bangladesh government to conduct an investigation into the nationwide violence that erupted during the anti-quota movement. 

Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the UN, said this in a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

“We are, of course, always ready to assist governments anywhere who may request help with different issues, and we see how we can best do that. In terms of independent investigations, as you know, that would require, as in any of these cases, mandate from a legislative body of this organization,” Stéphane Dujarric said while replying to a question. 

“We have condemned the use, of live fire ammunitions that we have seen in Bangladesh. Governments, whether in Bangladesh or anywhere else, need to be protecting the rights of people to protest peacefully and need to be protecting the right of journalists to do their job in a free and unfettered manner,” he said.

Earlier, in a written statement, he said “Turning to Bangladesh, I can tell you that despite the political situation and the violence we have seen, it is important to remind everyone that there are humanitarian crises ongoing in Bangladesh and we and our partners continue to provide support the people impacted by a number of emergencies - including Cyclone Remal - which has impacted 13 million people across Bangladesh this year. Our partners continue their work despite operational challenges - which includes obviously internet outages, bank closures and curfews.” 

“Last month, we and our partners launched the $80 million Humanitarian Response Plan to support 1.2 million people. The appeal is currently only 18 per cent funded. On 5 June, $7.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund was made available to support the response to the cyclone, while an additional $6.2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund was released on 4 July, to allow for cash payments to communities in the Jamuna Basin.  And of course, there is also a massive humanitarian operation on Cox’s Bazaar for refugees from Myanmar and to support the host communities,” he added.

It is mentionable that, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday sought cooperation from the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations to conduct a proper investigation into the nationwide mayhem to punish the real culprits involved in the attacks taking advantage of the anti-quota movement.