http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2016/06/13/un-human-rights-chief-asks-bangladesh-to-prioritise-investigation-prosecution-of-recent-killings
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has asked the Bangladesh government to make "investigating and prosecuting" the perpetrators of the recent wave of killings "a priority".
"I am very concerned about the dramatically increased number of brutal murders in Bangladesh that target freethinkers, liberals, religious minorities and LGBT activists," he said, speaking at a UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
He has urged all government officials and political and religious leaders "to unequivocally condemn these attacks on freedom, and to do more to protect affected groups".
The high commissioner was speaking on the worrying trends in human rights around the world, including concerns about the situation in more than 50 countries, according to the UN Geneva.
Secular bloggers, online activists, academics, gay rights activists, and members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus were killed in the last two years, many of them were hacked to death.
It is still unclear who is exactly behind those killings. But groups linked to the radical Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda have reportedly claimed many of those murders.
However, police have rejected the claims of the IS and said 'home-grown' outfits were behind those killings.
The government also blames the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, who have trashed those claims as "politically motivated".
Police recently launched a crackdown on Islamists after the wife of a senior police officer was hacked to death.
The UN rights chief noted recent reports of police arrests in his speech and said: "I urge that investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of these vicious crimes be made a priority, with full respect for human rights."
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