We condemn use of live ammunition in Bangladesh: UN

The United Nations has condemned the use of live fire ammunition that they have seen in Bangladesh and laid emphasis on protecting the rights to peaceful protests.

It also said that they are ready to assist any government who requests help on different issues.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary general, came up with the statement while responding to queries from the journalists at a press briefing at the UN headquarters on Wednesday.

Referring to the incidents of deaths and violence in Bangladesh, a journalist asked if the UN would assist with any investigation run by state-controlled institutions that lack independence, or would offer its own investigation.

In response, the spokesperson said, “We are, of course, always ready to assist governments anywhere who may request help with different issues, and we see how we can best do that. In terms of independent investigations, as you know, that would require, as in any of these cases, a mandate from a legislative body of this organisation.”

The journalist also drew the spokesperson’s attention to the issue that at least three journalists were killed in Bangladesh in recent days, and many have been arrested with no information on their whereabouts. He also mentioned that one of his colleagues – Saeed Khan, who used to work for his news organisation – has been missing and nobody knows his current location.

Stéphane, in response, said, “We have condemned the use of live fire ammunition that we have seen in Bangladesh. Governments, whether in Bangladesh or anywhere else, need to be protecting the rights of people to protest peacefully and need to be protecting the right of journalists to do their job in a free and unfettered manner.”

Earlier, he read out a statement on the UN activities in humanitarian response in Bangladesh. He said despite the political situation and the violence they have seen, it is important to remind everyone that there are humanitarian crises ongoing in Bangladesh.

“We and our partners continue to provide support to the people impacted by a number of emergencies — including Cyclone Remal — which has impacted 13 million people across Bangladesh this year,” he said.

The spokesperson also said, “Our partners continue their work despite operational challenges — which obviously includes internet outages, bank closures and curfews. Last month, we and our partners launched the $80 million humanitarian response plan to support 1.2 million people. The appeal is currently only 18 per cent funded.”

On June 5, $7.5 million from the central emergency response fund was made available to support the response to the cyclone, while an additional $6.2 million from the central emergency response fund was released on July 4, to allow for cash payments to communities in the Jamuna basin, he noted.

He added that there is also a massive humanitarian operation in Cox’s Bazaar for refugees from Myanmar and to support the host communities.