Violent mobs in Bangladesh have engaged in "serious acts of revenge violence", including killings, targeting police and Awami League officials, especially from early August of last year onwards, according to the United Nations.

It said some Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims and indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts were also subjected to human rights abuses, including the burning of homes and attacks on places of worship, with different underlying motivations.

"Authorities in disarray were unable to provide an effective response to protect the human rights of these victims against abuses by non-state actors," the UN said in its fact-finding report.

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The report on human rights violations and abuses related to the July uprising was launched earlier today in Geneva by the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

It said while protests were ongoing, some elements in the crowds committed incidents of lynching and other serious retaliatory violence targeting the police and Awami League officials or supporters, often in apparent direct response to unlawful violence perpetrated by or attributed to the victims.

The most serious incidents took place from August 4 onwards, it added.

After Sheikh Hasina left the country on August 5, revenge violence surged. Violent mobs stormed and burned down numerous police stations.

According to Bangladesh Police, 450 out of the country's 639 police stations were destroyed or damaged during attacks. In many cases, the police officers fled or were allowed to leave by their superiors. Some officers were lynched or otherwise killed.

In the days after Sheikh Hasina's fall, many police officers feared showing up for work and the police effectively ceased functioning in many places. This facilitated further apparent revenge violence as well as opportunistic crime.

According to Bangladesh Police, 44 police officers were killed and a further 2,308 were injured from July 1 to August 15. BGB reported three members killed and 129 injured; Ansar lost three members with 63 injured; and two RAB officers were killed, with 307 injured.

The report said OHCHR cannot provide its own estimate on the extent of revenge violence, in particular killings of police officers and Awami League members.

Awami League provided OHCHR with a detailed list with names, dates and causes of killings according to which 144 officials and members of Awami League and its affiliated organisations were killed during attacks that occurred between July 1 and August 15, including 23 deaths up to August 3, 35 deaths on August 4, 68 deaths on August 5 and another 18 deaths between August 6 and 15.

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OHCHR was not in a position to verify these incidents independently, the report added.

Revenge violence also targeted journalists and media outlets that were perceived as biased towards Awami League and supportive of the former government, said the report.

OHCHR strongly recommended prompt and independent investigations into all reported incidents of this kind, which, if left unaddressed, pose major risks to the country's social fabric, democratic culture and cohesion going forward.