Staff Reporter :
The fact-finding report by the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has revealed how the former Awami League government deployed both police forces and party cadres to suppress students and civilians during the July uprising.
According to the report, Awami League supporters and law enforcement carried out coordinated attacks on protesters.
Released in Geneva last Wednesday, the OHCHR report details how, as demonstrations continued, state security forces increasingly integrated armed Awami League supporters into their operations to quell the protests.
This included members of the Awami Jubo League, an organization officially recognized as the youth wing of the Awami League but comprising middle-aged men frequently involved in acts of violence.
The report describes instances where armed Awami League supporters positioned themselves alongside police or took shelter behind police lines before launching attacks timed to reinforce police efforts in dispersing protests through violence.
Additionally, Awami League supporters were involved in stopping and searching individuals, apprehending protesters, and handing them over to law enforcement in an organized and seemingly premeditated manner.
According to an inside source, some armed Awami League supporters even stayed at Jatrabari police station.
This level of collaboration was made possible due to the political influence exerted over law enforcement under the previous administration, which forged deep ties between the Awami League, Chhatra League, and the police.
As protests intensified from 18 July, and especially in early August, large-scale attacks were reportedly carried out by armed Awami League supporters, including the use of firearms.
In this context, the current inspector-general of police (IGP) informed OHCHR that there had been serious irregularities in issuing firearm licenses to Awami League and Chhatra League supporters, many of whom allegedly used these weapons for attacks on protesters.
The report states that Bangladesh Police provided OHCHR with details of 95 individuals-including members of the police, Awami League, and its affiliated bodies-who were accused of supplying weapons to civilians for violent attacks during the protests.
This list included 10 sitting members of parliament, 14 local Awami League leaders, 16 Jubo League leaders, 16 Chhatra League leaders, and seven members of the police.
Additionally, police identified 160 Awami League-affiliated political leaders and security officials suspected of inciting or orchestrating violent attacks on civilians.
The OHCHR report highlights that Awami League-backed assaults consistently aligned with security forces’ actions to suppress the protest movement.
Some of these attacks were directly led by Awami League leaders, government officials, and sitting members of parliament. Based on firsthand testimony, video evidence, and corroborating sources, OHCHR documented multiple incidents across the country.
According to the report, on 19 July, armed Awami League supporters allegedly led by party officials opened fire on protesters near Crescent Hospital in Uttara.
That same day, several hundred Awami League supporters, under the leadership of a local official, launched an attack at Mujahid Nagar Central Mosque in Rayerbag, resulting in the deaths of two elderly men.
Defenders inside the mosque put up strong resistance, leaving around 80 people injured, three of whom later died in the clashes.
Also on 19 July, Jubo League members actively participated in violent police efforts to prevent a peaceful human chain near the parliament, including the assault of the demonstration’s main speaker.
The report further states that on 2 August, armed Jubo League members attacked protesters in front of Milestone College in Uttara reinforcing broader police efforts to disperse the demonstrations violently. Several female protesters were struck with iron bars and pistol-whipped.
On 3 August, armed Chhatra League and other Awami League-affiliated groups, wielding firearms, machetes, and iron rods, formed attack squads of about 60 men each and assaulted a group of male and female protesters in Cumilla.
Numerous protesters sustained injuries, with seven suffering gunshot wounds. Police did not intervene. The following day, Awami League supporters carried out similar attacks, even firing from nearby buildings.
The report also documents incidents where Awami League lawmakers were directly involved in fatal violence against protesters.
On 4 August, police and armed Awami League supporters, including a sitting MP, fired live rounds at largely peaceful protesters in Ashulia, Savar, injuring three children and four men.
That same day, another MP led a coordinated assault with police in Mirpur, during which Awami League supporters fired live rounds from surrounding buildings. One victim survived a gunshot wound to the groin, while another was shot in the head.
