It was end-of-mandate statement, not global report: UN rights office

The office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has regretted the "misinformation" regarding high commissioner's end-of-mandate statement in Geneva on global issues, noting that it was not a "global report".

"We regret the misinformation. This was not meant to be a global report," Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement on Tuesday.

As the High Commissioner had already extensively covered the human rights issues in Bangladesh, she chose to focus her 25 August end-of-mandate statement in Geneva on global issues (climate change, the food, fuel, finance crisis, civic space, etc.) affecting all countries - including Bangladesh - as well as the Rohingya anniversary which was on the day itself, said the spokesperson.

"As you must be aware, the High Commissioner extensively discussed her concerns about a wide range of human rights issues in her meetings with government, civil society and other interlocutors and in her end-of-mission statement in Dhaka," she said.

The High Commissioner said in her statement in Dhaka, "acknowledging the challenges is always the first step to overcoming them" and the UN Human Rights Office stands ready to assist in following through on the recommendations made by the High Commissioner, as well as other work towards promotion and protection of human rights in Bangladesh.