The United Nations has reaffirmed confidence in its fact-finding report on the July-August 2024 uprising in Bangladesh, rejecting allegations made by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her legal team that the report significantly overstated the death toll.
Responding to a question from a Bangladeshi journalist during the UN’s regular press briefing on 1 June, UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric defended the findings of the report.
“The report was issued by our colleagues in the human rights office, and we have no reason to question it,” Dujarric said.
The remarks came after a formal submission by legal representatives of Sheikh Hasina seeking a public retraction and correction of the casualty figures contained in the report.
In a detailed legal letter dated 28 May, 2026, Steven Powles KC of Doughty Street Chambers wrote to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, raising what he described as “serious concerns” about the report titled “Human Rights Violations and Abuses Related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh.”
Doughty Street Chambers, acting on behalf of Sheikh Hasina, argued that the report’s estimate that around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest was inaccurate and relied on information that allegedly helped justify the removal of the Awami League government from power.
The legal submission called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to issue an immediate public retraction and correction regarding the reported death toll.
According to the letter, the report’s conclusion that approximately 1,400 people were killed during the protests was “manifestly false” and significantly higher than figures contained in official records published by Bangladesh’s current authorities.
The lawyers further argued that the casualty estimate cited by the UN was nearly double the number reflected in government records and questioned the methodology used to reach the figure.
However, the UN’s response indicates that the organisation continues to stand by the findings of its fact-finding mission and has no immediate plans to revisit or withdraw the report.
The February 2025 report documented allegations of widespread human rights violations and abuses during the mass protests that culminated in the collapse of the Awami League government, and its findings have remained a subject of intense political debate within Bangladesh.
