UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday called on the Bangladesh government to urgently disclose details about last week's crackdown on protests amid growing accounts of horrific violence.
He also called for ensuring all law enforcement operations abide by international human rights norms and standards.
Latest media reports indicate that more than 170 people have been killed and over a thousand injured, with a denial of medical care to many.
Again, several others are missing following countrywide protests by students and youth movements against the government's quota-reservation policy.
At least two journalists were reportedly killed and scores of others injured.
Hundreds of people were also reportedly arrested, including opposition figures, it said in a statement.
"We understand that many people were subjected to violent attacks by groups reportedly affiliated with the government, and no effort was made to protect them," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Mr Türk called on the government to restore full internet access to allow all people, including journalists and media outlets, to communicate freely and in line with international law.
The government must provide details about those killed, injured or detained in the savagery for the benefit of their families, he added.
Mr Türk called for an impartial, independent and transparent investigation into all alleged human rights violations, offering his office's support to this end.
He hoped the Supreme Court's decision to substantially narrow the quota system for government jobs, a system that sparked protests, may open space for confidence-building, leading to meaningful and inclusive dialogue to address underlying issues and grievances.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International in a separate statement the same day said an analysis of video and photographs confirmed that police unlawfully used lethal weapons against protesters here.
Its Crisis Evidence Lab has verified videos of three incidents of unlawful use of lethal and less-lethal weapons by law-enforcers while policing the protests.
"The egregious human rights records of the Bangladeshi government and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which has been deployed to police the protests, provide little reassurance that the protesters' rights will be protected in the absence of active international monitoring with internet and communication restrictions still partially in place," said Deprose Muchena, senior director at Amnesty International.
According to media reports, more than 2,500 have so far been arrested and nearly 200 deaths and several thousand injuries recorded since the protests turned deadly on 16 July 2024.
Other reports state 61,000 have been charged with violence related to the protests, it added.
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