UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has said the election period will be an important time for Bangladesh to maximise civic and political space, noting that it is also important to ensure that law enforcement forces have the necessary training to manage protests without resorting to the excessive use of force.

She also mentioned that freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of political activists, human rights defenders, opposition parties and journalists are important.

"There needs to be space for more dialogue among political parties and with a wide range of civil society actors to prevent grievances from building and erupting in social unrest," Bachelet told reporters at a crowded press conference at a city hotel wrapping up her four-day visit.

Bachelet said the voices of women, religious minorities and indigenous peoples, and especially young people need to be heard.

"I hope my visit will build on the government's engagement with the UN's human rights mechanisms and help deepen cooperation with us, furthering the promotion and protection of human rights in Bangladesh," Bachelet said.

During the visit she met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several ministers - foreign, home, law, and education - and other government officials.

She also met with the National Human Rights Commission and representatives of civil society, as well as members of the diplomatic community and academics; and said civil society members are important resources that all governments need to tap into.

Particularly given the long-standing frustrations at the lack of progress in investigations and other obstacles to justice, Bachelet encouraged the government to create an independent, specialised mechanism that works closely with victims, families and civil society to investigate allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

"My Office is ready to provide advice on how such a body could be designed in line with international standards," she said.

Bachelet interacted with students at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on climate change and human rights.

"Critical voices can help to identify the problems, to acknowledge them, to dive deep into the causes and discuss solutions," she said, adding that acknowledging the challenges is always the first step to overcoming them.

"My exchanges with civil society representatives were rich and insightful - this was not surprising as Bangladesh has historically had a wealth of civil society expertise in various fields," she said.

Bachelet said democratic and civic space, as well as effective checks and balances and accountability are essential as Bangladesh aims for the next levels of development.

It also contributes to decreasing the risk of corruption and other hurdles to sustainable economic development and sound fiscal management, she said.

Bachelet stressed the importance of protecting minority groups, such as Hindus and indigenous peoples from violence or land encroachments.

The UN rights chief said there are continued, alarming allegations of both short-term and long-term enforced disappearances, and concerns about the lack of due process and judicial safeguards.

Inviting the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to visit Bangladesh would also show a commitment to decisively address this issue, Bachelet said.

As the biggest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN peacekeeping missions, the UN chief said Bangladesh should ensure it has a robust system in place to ensure the careful human rights screening of security personnel.

She also discussed law reforms, to bring domestic legislation in line with international human rights laws.

Her office and the government have engaged in dialogue on review of the Digital Security Act.

"I acknowledge the need to regulate the online space, addressing online hate speech, disinformation and combating cybercrime," Bachelet said, adding that addressing these concerns is not simple, as regulating communications always creates risks for the protection of freedom of expression.

She said they have submitted their recommendations for repeal and revision of certain provisions of the Act, with a view to ensuring their compliance with international human rights laws and standards and preventing arbitrary application or misuse.

"We look forward to the government's feedback and timeline to expedite the review. We also discussed the importance of working closely with civil society and the UN to ensure that the new draft Data Protection Law and the OTT (Over the Top Platforms) regulations meet international human rights standards," she said.

Bachelet hoped that her visit would further boost Bangladesh's engagement - government and non-governmental - with the UN Human Rights Office and mechanisms.

Bangladesh will also undertake its fourth Universal Periodic Review in the Human Rights Council next year, which will be an important moment to take stock of progress, she added.

"It is encouraging that the new Special Rapporteur on climate change and human rights will visit the country soon. I call on the international community to support Bangladesh and other vulnerable States in their demand for effective climate action," Bachelet said.

Bachelet Understands PM Hasina's Pains

Bachelet has said she understands the pains of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as they both went through similar situations back in 1974 and 1975.

"I can understand her pains as well, you know, because if we live situations that are similar in that sense," she said, noting that her father died in 1974 while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina lost her father in 1975.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally assassinated by a group of conspiring army officers on August 15 in 1975. Bangabandhu's wife, sons, daughters-in-law and other relatives were also killed in the massacre, one of the most heinous in world history.

On the other hand, General Alberto Bachelet was arrested and tortured for opposing the military coup led by Gen Augusto Pinochet. He died in 1974 of a heart attack caused by the torture inflicted on him.

During her four-day visit to Bangladesh, Bachelet met PM Hasina on Wednesday apart from her meetings with four ministers, civil society members and other stakeholders.

Her visit coincided with an important day of national mourning, commemorating the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

She said it was a day which naturally lent itself to reflections on the history of Bangladesh - its painful past, a people's struggle for independence and for their human rights, millions of whom had been forced to flee in 1971.

"I also share with them my experiences as a former head of state of the federal government, and my own experience in Chile," said the UN rights chief who was elected President of Chile on two occasions (2006 - 2010 and 2014 - 2018).

Bachelet, who also was the first female president of Chile, laid emphasis on acknowledging the existence of problems, to address them and make the investigation.

"I always felt that when I receive any allegation of any kind....what if it's true, because it might not be my policy, but maybe some things are happening. And if I know that I'm having....I can do something about it. So that's the kind of conversation we had," she told reporters before leaving Dhaka on Wednesday evening.

The UN rights chief said the allegations might not be true but if she hears something, she always says, "Let's analyze it, let's investigate and see if it's true or if it's not true. If you come to know it's not true, things are clear."

But if it is found to be true, she said, how they remedy and how they take the measures. "So that's the kind of conversation that we had."

Responding to a question, the UN rights chief said she is happy to have come to the right location because she thinks it was an important opportunity for her to visit this beautiful country that has a lot of challenges - not just human rights but also on economic, social, cultural and climate change fronts.

Warmly thanking the government of Bangladesh for its invitation, she said, "I hope my visit will build on the government's engagement with the UN's human rights mechanisms and help deepen cooperation with us, furthering the promotion and protection of human rights in Bangladesh."

Listen to Countries like Bangladesh

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has said the international community "must heed" the voice of specially affected countries like Bangladesh and act to deploy every possible resource to make the human right to a healthy environment a reality for all.

"Now is the time for action. We have spoken a lot, and we must walk the talk," she said hours before wrapping up her four-day visit to Bangladesh on Wednesday, urging the international community to listen to countries like Bangladesh and act with "unity, purpose and solidarity".

Bachelet said they know what they need to do, the challenge is moving their political leaders at international level to the point where they realise that the costs of inaction are far higher than those of doing the right thing.

She hoped that in the next steps and at the international level, including at the end of the year in the discussion of the post-2020 biodiversity framework, that the international community will take steps to walk the talk and not to just discuss in closed rooms about this. "So as I said, we know what we need to do. We need political will to move forward on this."

While speaking at a programme titled "New Frontiers of Human Rights: Climate Justice in Perspective" organized by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) at the BIISS auditorium the UN rights chief said, "So, we need to draw a new way of living, working and reaching our individual, collective potential in peace with each other and with our planet."

She said Bangladesh is very much at the frontline of this issue, both in terms of the effects of climate change on the country, but also due to its vital role as an actor for change.

The World Bank estimates that Bangladesh may have almost 20 million internal climate migrants by 2050 - corresponding to roughly 12 % of the entire population of Bangladesh or the entire population of her own home country, Chile.

Specifically, with a projected 50 cm rise in sea level, as mentioned before, Bangladesh may lose approximately 11% of its land by then, and that would mean up to 18 million people may have to migrate because of sea-level rise alone.

"Climate change impacts access to food more broadly. Rising temperatures and heat stress are already affecting rice production in parts of Bangladesh," Bachelet said.

She said Bangladesh has made important progress in meeting the SDGs on poverty and education. "I commend Bangladesh on its ambitious vision for economic development and with a view to graduating from "Least Developed Country" status in 2026."

Bachelet said at the same time, stronger efforts are needed to meet SDG 5 on gender equality and SDG 10 on reducing inequality.

This includes working towards eliminating child marriage, tackling gender-based violence, ensuring the right of every child to education, and enacting both short- and long-term special measures to reduce income inequality, among other steps, she said.

In addition, Bachelet said, Bangladesh's sustainable development efforts should occur in line with SDG 16 by promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions.

This includes strengthening the national human rights commission, the elections commission, the judiciary, expanding civic space for public debate (both on and offline) and ensuring civil society participation in the design and implementation of economic and social development plans, she mentioned.

For all the significant human rights challenges ahead - economic, climate-related, political, social and humanitarian - Bachelet said she is convinced that if the powerful resources within the whole society are harnessed, and policies and responses are crafted with the participation of many diverse voices, Bangladesh will continue to shine brighter in its remarkable development journey.