UN to open human rights office in Dhaka; Deal signed 

The UN Human Rights Office is going to open a mission in the country in a bid to support the promotion and protection of human rights. 

The UN Human Rights Office and the Government of Bangladesh have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to open the mission. 

The agreement was signed by UN High Commissioner Volker Türk and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam this week in Geneva, reads a press release of the UN issued in Geneva on Friday.

Since last August, the UN Human Rights Office’s engagement with Bangladesh has significantly increased. The office has been working with various stakeholders in advancing human rights reforms and conducting a comprehensive fact-finding inquiry into deadly repression of mass protests.

“The signing of this memorandum sends an important message of the country’s commitment to human rights as a cornerstone of the transition,” said Türk.

The new mission will offer training and technical assistance to the authorities across a range of areas, towards meeting the country’s national and international human rights commitments, as well as undertake capacity-building for government institutions and civil society actors.

The new administration quickly pledged to establish a commission of inquiry, disband secret detention centres like Aynaghar, and seek UN assistance. 

On 29 August 2024, the Yunus-led interim government also signed the UN convention against enforced disappearances.