A UN OHCHR team in Dhaka has said the purpose of its visit to Bangladesh is to understand the interim government’s priorities for assistance in promoting human rights, not for an investigation.
Rory Mungoven, chief of the Asia Pacific region at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, is leading the team, which met Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Thursday after its arrival in Dhaka.
“I’m visiting with a small team this week to really hold some preliminary discussions, exploratory discussions with the government about ways in which our office can support the interim government,” Mungoven told journalists after the meeting.
“Our visit this week is not an investigation. It’s really an exploratory visit to discuss with the interim government, with the advisors, with some of the ministries, with the civil society, with this broad section of Bangladesh society, to hear your priorities, your needs going forward and explore some areas where the office of the high commissioner could assist, including in the area of fact-finding and investigation.”
“This is something we will have to discuss, the modalities, the way this could work, how it could support the national processes going forward. So, it’s really too early to conclude how that will be done, but I think our mission will help very much in terms of exploring the ways in which we can support Bangladesh at this time,” Mungoven added.
“People of Bangladesh, at this historic time, let me just say that the high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, is really inspired by the courage and commitment to democracy and human rights of the Bangladesh people, particularly the students and particularly the youth.
“And he sees this as a historic opportunity for the country in restoring democracy, renewing institutions, advancing human rights, and he wants the office to support the interim government, civil society, people of Bangladesh, in any way that we can,” the UN official said.
“I know the international community really supports the people of Bangladesh in achieving human rights and renewal of democracy through this very, very historic time.”
Earlier, the UN said a team from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights would be visiting Dhaka from Thursday to August 29 for preliminary discussions with the interim government and other stakeholders.
“This is in response to a request from the interim government. Once the details are finalized, a separate fact-finding team will be dispatched in the coming weeks to conduct the investigation,” the UN Human Rights Office said.