Bangladesh now can chart a new future: Volker Turk

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has said Bangladesh now has an opportunity to chart a new future, with the interim government making publicly clear its commitment to a peaceful and inclusive process grounded in human rights and the rule of law.

“My office is supporting the authorities, including by conducting an independent fact-finding mission into recent alleged human rights violations, and on accountability, processes of reconciliation and healing, and other essential, long-delayed reforms,” he said in a statement on Monday (September 9).

Recently in Bangladesh, the student movement carried human rights as its torch, Turk added.

He said his office will continue to work tirelessly in support of victims everywhere.

“I urge you all to make use of this institution to the fullest, because a strong UN Human Rights Office and a healthy, well-resourced human rights ecosystem are of global interest and benefit. And represent an extraordinary return on investment at a tiny fraction of the resources so readily devoted elsewhere,” said the UN rights chief.