U.n. calls crackdown on bangladesh student protest a possible crime against humanity
The brutal crackdown on student protesters last year by Bangladesh’s former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, killed as many as 1,400 people, a toll much higher than previously estimated, according to a U.N. report issued on Wednesday. Ms. Hasina’s violent response to the student-led revolt, which ultimately ended her 15-year rule, involved extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture, according to a U.N. fact-finding mission. The actions by Ms. Hasina and senior Bangladeshi officials possibly amounted to crimes against humanity, the U.N. report said. “The testimonies and evidence we gathered paint a disturbing picture of rampant state violence and targeted killings that are amongst the most serious violations of human rights, and which may also constitute international crimes,” Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said in a statement. It is clear that “the top echelons of...
