Perpetrators of police brutality in Bangladesh ‘will be held accountable’, says chief of justice project – Channel 4 News
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14 Jan 2025

Perpetrators of police brutality in Bangladesh ‘will be held accountable’, says chief of justice project

Data Correspondent and Presenter

Shortly before anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq resigned, we spoke to Yasmin Sooka, the Executive Director of The International Truth and Justice Project and member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was set up in the aftermath of the fall of apartheid in the country.

We asked her how confident she is that those responsible for atrocities in Bangladesh will be brought to justice.

Yasmin Sooka: I’m very confident that the perpetrators of the police brutality against protesters between July and August will be held accountable. I met with the prosecutor from the International Criminal Tribunal and was really reassured by the fact that he’s taking these cases very seriously.

Ciaran Jenkins: But can Bangladesh move on as a country if Sheikh Hasina, nobody was more powerful than her, perhaps nobody more responsible than her, isn’t held to account and faces justice herself.

Yasmin Sooka: The Bangladeshi criminal justice system doesn’t think that it’s necessary that she be here when they begin to put her on trial. And they are quite clear that in terms of the law, they can conduct such a trial in absentia. And they’re absolutely determined to do that.

Ciaran Jenkins: We have seen some absolutely horrific images of police brutality in Bangladesh, and a lot of those people will remain in their posts, won’t they, regardless of the truth and reconciliation process. How will anyone ever trust the police in Bangladesh again?

Yasmin Sooka: You have to root out the police who in fact, were responsible for the violence. You know, you also have the reliance really on a colonial police act, which was more about protecting the narrow interests of the elite. And I think that that is something that would need to go.

Ciaran Jenkins: There are human rights and anti-corruption investigations into Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh. She is the aunt of Tulip Siddiq. Will that be of interest to investigators in Bangladesh?

Yasmin Sooka: Of course, any investigation into members of a family is going to be very important. But, you know, one aspect that strikes one is the fact that at no point in the course of the atrocities that took place in Bangladesh, have you heard Tulip acknowledge the atrocities that have taken place. And I think that that’s a really big gap.

Ciaran Jenkins: Tulip Siddiq is not here to defend herself, and she denies any wrongdoing.

Yasmin Sooka: What she should be doing is, in fact, stepping down until such time as the investigation is complete. Because when you look at the question of corruption, you know, the commission that was dealing with the economy handed in its report yesterday and the figures that it raised in that report are absolutely phenomenal. They talked about $16 billion being laundered annually, and in Sheikh Hasina’s regime, which has really affected the economy.