The families of the victims of enforced disappearances during the Awami League regime are still crying for justice, as many of them are still missing, many returned from secret detention, and many were found dead after their disappearance.
Family members of those still missing want to know the whereabouts of their near and dear ones, while those of those returned or died want punishment for the people responsible for the victims鈥� enforced disappearance.
The interim government, after assuming office on August 8, 2024, three days after the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising, vowed to investigate the incidents of enforced disappearance and bring the perpetrators to book and formed a Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance on August 27, 2024.
The commission is currently investigating a total of 1,350 incidents of enforced enforcement that occurred during the Awami League regime between January 6, 2009 and August 5, 2024. Of them, more than 300 people are still missing.
A few cases were lodged with the International Crimes Tribunal over the incidents of enforced disappearances but the perpetrators are yet to be brought to book.
The families of the victims who are still traceless said that they were passing days in utter anxiety and fear as they were yet to know the whereabouts of their relatives even after a year of the interim government鈥檚 assuming office.
鈥業 want to know the whereabouts of my husband. I don鈥檛 want to cry, but why do we still have to go door to door seeking his whereabouts and pressing for justice,鈥� said Nasrin Jahan Smrity, wife of Ismail Hossain Baten, an activist of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
She said that her husband remained traceless since the day when a group of men, identifying themselves as the members of the Rapid Action Battalion, picked him up in 2019.
Criticising the justice system, she wanted to know whether the families of enforced disappearance victims would get justice anytime soon.
Nasrin made the remarks at a discussion organized by human rights organisation Odhikar at the National Press Club in Dhaka on the eve of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, observed across the globe on August 30 every year.
Human Rights Support Society, in another event at the press club, on the eve of the international day, presented seven demands, including a call for Bangladesh to fully implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Different organisations will organise programmes in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance today.
Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government, on August 28, 2024, signed the Instrument of Accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Addressing Odhikar鈥檚 discussion, many of the victim families hoped that their loved ones would come back, as a few of the enforced disappearance victims were released after Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 ouster.
They demanded to identify those involved in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during the Awami League鈥檚 tenure and ensure exemplary punishment.
Rahmatullah, an electrician, was picked up from his own house in Dhamrai on August 29, 2023. He was later found at a place near the Bangladesh-India international border in Jashore.
鈥楾hey blindfolded me after they had picked me up and kept me in various places in Bangladesh for nine months. Later, I was taken to India where I was held in Dum Dum jail for 鈥榠llegal entry鈥� for seven months,鈥� he said at the event.
He demanded to bring those involved in these crimes be brought to book.
The families of the victims also said that they were facing difficulties for a long time, especially on issues of property transfer and access to bank accounts.
Regarding the issue, environment, forest and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said that a fund would be created under section 24 of the newly drafted Enforced Disappearance Prevention, Remedies and Protection Ordinance 2025.
鈥楾his fund will provide compensation, rehabilitation and legal aid as well to the families of the victims of enforced disappearance,鈥� she said.
Process to finalise the law is underway now, she added.
The government, on August 28, approved a draft of the Enforced Disappearance Prevention, Remedies and Protection Ordinance 2025 in principle, which proposed the death penalty and other severe punishments for committing the crimes.
The Human Rights Support Society, in its event on Friday, demanded that the government and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforce Disappearance must bring the perpetrators to justice immediately and inform the victims鈥� families whether their relatives are alive or dead.
Addressing the event, Nur Khan Liton, a member of the commission, said that everyone had to work together to ensure the word 鈥榙isappearance鈥� no longer existed in Bangladesh.
鈥楨nforced disappearance is the most horrific form of human rights violation. Everyone, including political parties, civil society and the international community has to come forward to resist these crimes,鈥� he added.
He said that the commission was working and that they would be able to clarify the status of the complaints and cases of disappearances by December.
Several other demands also made in the events included providing legal, financial and psychological assistance to the victims and their families, disbanding the Rapid Action Battalion for their alleged involvement in enforced disappearance, the withdrawal of false cases against the victims who returned, bringing those involved in destroying evidence of enforced disappearances, and cancellation or amendment of the Anti-terrorism Act 2009.
According to Odhikar data, 745 people were victims of enforced disappearance from 2009 to June 2024 and many of them are still missing.
