Sat Mar 08 06:15:45 UTC 2025: ## UN Warning Led to Regime Change in Bangladesh, Says Human Rights Chief

**DHAKA, BANGLADESH – March 8, 2025** – The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, revealed that a UN warning to the Bangladesh Army played a crucial role in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last August. Speaking on BBC’s HARDtalk, Turk stated that the UN threatened to ban the Bangladeshi army from UN peacekeeping missions if it intervened violently in student-led protests.

These protests, organized by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (SAD), lasted several weeks and culminated in Hasina’s removal from power on August 5th, 2024, after more than 15 years in office. Muhammad Yunus subsequently assumed the role of Chief Advisor of the Interim Government.

Turk highlighted the UN’s intervention as a successful example of its impact in resolving international crises, contrasting it with instances where the organization appears less effective. He emphasized the UN’s role in shining a spotlight on the situation, issuing the warning to the army, and subsequently sending a fact-finding mission at the request of the new interim government.

A February report from Turk’s team documented the violence during the July-August protests. The report estimates that as many as 1,400 people were killed, many of them minorities including Hindus, between July 1st and August 5th, with thousands more injured. The report covers the period from the beginning of the student protests to the fall of the Hasina government. Turk noted that students expressed gratitude for the UN’s stance and support during this period. The UN’s actions, according to Turk, were instrumental in shaping the outcome of the crisis.

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