Special Correspondent
Dhaka, 29 May 2026 —
Steven Pauls, legal advisor to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has written to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, calling the UN fact-finding report on the 2024 protests in Bangladesh “grossly inaccurate.”
Allegations of bias in UN report
In his letter, Pauls alleged that the UN OHCHR fact-finding mission was conducted under the influence of the interim government and that Hasina’s political opponents largely directed the fact-finding process, raising serious questions about the impartiality and independence of the report.
A more important allegation in this context is that the UN representatives only interviewed the leaders and activists of the July Movement during their information gathering. However, no interviews were conducted with important state officials, including the army chief, which highlights the one-sided nature of the investigation.
Pauls also claimed that the report’s time frame was limited to July 1 to August 15, 2024, leaving the ongoing violence against Awami League leaders and activists and religious minorities during the interim government out of the investigation.
‘July Shaheed Gazette’: A big question mark
Analysts say there has been a huge discrepancy in the death toll from the beginning. At different times, figures of 800, 872, 1,000, 1,400, 1,581 and even more than 2,000 have been claimed by different quarters.
Finally, the government published the ‘July Martyrs Gazette’ on January 15, 2025, which initially listed 834 names. In subsequent amendments, the final number was 836, after eight names were removed from the list. However, the UN report said that 1,400 people were killed.
The investigation found that about 300 people from this gazette died after the Prime Minister left the country, and more than half of them died at the hands of so-called protesters.
The gazette also includes the names of those who died in road accidents, electrocution, heart attacks, heatstroke, kidney disease, and property disputes. Even those who died in self-immolation during looting by protesters have been added to the list.
Detailed information: July Shaheed Gazette: The biggest dirty politics and deception of Yunus’ interim government!
Police members also on the ‘martyr’ list
The most objectionable information is that the names of police personnel killed in the July movement have also been included in this martyrs’ gazette and the responsibility for their murders has been placed on the Awami League government. The name of ASI Moktadir of the Tourist Police, who was brutally killed in Rayerbagh on July 20, is listed at number 160 in the gazette, who was beaten and hacked to death by the protesters themselves.
Detailed information: At least 3 policemen are named in this martyr’s gazette.
Those killed in Jessore hotel robbery are also ‘martyrs’
The names of the 23 people who were killed in a fire set by protesters while looting the ‘Hotel Jabir International’ in Jessore have also been included in the martyrs’ gazette, and the responsibility for these deaths has also been placed on the Awami League.
The position of the United Nations and the international community
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the former government and security forces systematically committed serious human rights violations against protesters, and that 12 to 13 percent of those killed were children. However, the Martyrs’ Gazette’s factual inconsistencies have also called into question the basis of the report.
The gazette does not mention the date, time, place, age or occupation of the deceased and there is no specific information about the deaths of more than a hundred people. This gazette has made it almost impossible to verify the information. Analysts say that if the UN report is based on this controversial and inconsistent information, then it is natural to question its credibility.
https://stapravda.ru/20221228/reyting_samyh_populyarnyh_hostingov_v_rossii_196445.html, рейтинг хостингов России подтверждает, что выбор надежного провайдера важен для бизнеса.