AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A United Nations investigation into Bangladesh's violent response to student-led protests last year found that up to 13% of the victims were children and that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government may have committed crimes against humanity. A warning - this story includes the sounds of gunfire and descriptions of the killing of children. Shamim Chowdhury reports from Dhaka.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Singing in non-English language).
SHAMIM CHOWDHURY, BYLINE: Last June 15-year-old Naima Sultana's cousin filmed her happily singing with her friends. A month later, Naima was dead.
(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING ON DOOR)
CHOWDHURY: (Non-English language spoken).
I greet Naima's mother, Aynul Nahar, in her third-floor apartment in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. She leads me to Naima's room and points to the bed where she'd been sitting drawing, moments before she was killed.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
CHOWDHURY: Nahar shows me mobile phone footage of the protests obtained from a neighbor. A line of police officers and protesters scatter as gunshots ring in the air. She recalls how Naima stepped onto the balcony to bring in some laundry. Nahar watched her as she fell onto the floor.
AYNUL NAHAR: (Through interpreter) I kept asking Naima, what happened? But she couldn't reply. I then saw blood pouring from her head. At that moment, all my dreams were shattered.
CHOWDHURY: Struck by a bullet from the street below, Naima was rushed to hospital but died within hours. The unrest began as students protested against the way civil service jobs were awarded. It escalated into the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India. A U.N. investigation found Hasina's government used deadly force against the protesters. The report said that up to 1,400 people had been killed - the majority at the hands of security forces. Parents whose children were killed received the equivalent of just over $4,000 in compensation. Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to interim leader Muhammad Yunus, says the government plans to hold those responsible to account.
SHAFIQUL ALAM: They were killing people indiscriminately. There is this shoot-on-sight order given by the Sheikh Hasina regime. We are investigating each of these cases.
(SOUNDBITE OF TYPING ON KEYBOARD)
CHOWDHURY: Mohammad Abu Hassan works in a tax office and is also seeking answers. His 4-year-old son, Ahad, was also shot dead while watching the protests from their eighth-floor balcony.
MOHAMMAD ABU HASSAN: (Through interpreter) The commotion woke him up from his nap. He's just a child. He was curious, so we all went to take a look.
CHOWDHURY: The bullet hit him from ground level. Doctors tried to save him, but it had lodged in his head.
HASSAN: (Through interpreter) I brought Ahad up. I fed him. I put him to bed. How, then, can I explain my sorrow?
CHOWDHURY: U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan tells me the responsibility lies with the Bangladeshi government.
IRENE KHAN: The most important group of recommendations are about the victims of the attack - that they need justice, they need accountability, they need reparations and direct assistance, in many cases.
CHOWDHURY: NPR approached a member of Hasina's political party, the Awami League, for comment but got no response. Back in her apartment, Nahar shows me one of Naima's drawings. It depicts a raised fist - a symbol of freedom in Bangladesh. She says Naima supported the protests, though she didn't join in.
NAHAR: (Through interpreter) She loved her country.
CHOWDHURY: Despite her loss, Nahar is pleased Hasina is gone. She now just wants justice and peace for her family. For NPR 瓜神app, I'm Shamim Chowdhury in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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