During the July-August movement, the United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned the army that if they got involved in the violence, then they would be banned from UN peacekeeping missions.

Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said this in an interview on BBC's HARDtalk programme on Wednesday.

"During July-August, there were massive demonstrations of students, they had enough of the previous government under Sheikh Hasina, there was massive repression happening," he told Sackur.

"The big hope for them was actually our voice, was my voice, and was also what we were able to do and we put the spotlight on the situation. And we actually gave the warning to the army that if they get involved, it means that they may not be allowed to be a troop-contributing country anymore," said Turk. "As a result, we saw changes."

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He went on to say, "When Muhammad Yunus took over as the new chief adviser of the interim administration, he asked me immediately, 'can you send us a fact-finding mission to put a spotlight on the situation to investigate what was happening', which is what we did and it actually helped."

He also said that when he was in Bangladesh last November, he was thanked for his role.

"The students were so grateful for us taking a stand and for us speaking out and for us supporting them."

In the interview, Volker Turk discussed various conflicts around the world and their devastating impact on millions of lives. He raised concerns about the possibility of humanity sleepwalking into a dystopian future if these issues are not addressed. The conversation touched on the importance of human rights, the role of international organisations, and the need for global cooperation to prevent further sufferings.

In Bangladesh, amid a raging mass uprising led by the students, the army held a meeting called "Officers Address" on August 3 last year. There, it reportedly agreed not to fire on citizens. A press release by the Inter Services Public Relations had said, "Bangladesh Army will always stand by the people in their interests and in the state's needs."

Reuters has reported that the night before Sheikh Hasina fled, the Chief of Army Staff General Waker-uz-Zaman held a meeting with his generals and decided that troops would not open fire on civilians to enforce a curfew. The agency quoted two serving army officers with knowledge of the discussions.

In its fact-finding report released last month, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had mentioned that as many as 1,400 people have been killed during the July-August uprising that culminated into the ouster of the Hasina regime.

It said serious human rights violations and abuses committed by the security forces and armed Awami League supporters between July 15 and August 5 stemmed from a calculated effort to retain power at all costs.

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The UN mission interviewed 230 witnesses for the purposes of preparing the report.

The report said, "Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR] has reasonable grounds to believe that these violations were carried out with the knowledge, coordination, and direction of the political leadership and senior security sector officials, in pursuance of a strategy to suppress the protests and related expressions of dissent."