The Advisers’ Council, chaired by chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, on Thursday granted final approval to the ordinance on the prevention and remedies for enforced disappearances, which introduced the maximum penalty of death and requires trials to be completed within 120 days of charge framing.
Following the meeting, chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters at a briefing at the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka that the ordinance provided a comprehensive legal framework to address enforced disappearances.
He said that the ordinance defined enforced disappearance and treated it as a continuing offence, paving the way for stringent penalties, including the death sentence.
The press secretary said that the establishment or operation of secret detention centres — known as ‘Aynaghar’ — has been made a punishable offence, meaning that both creating and using such facilities would carry criminal liability.
He said that the National Human Rights Commission has been authorised to receive and investigate complaints related to enforced disappearances, and that the ordinance required the formation of a special tribunal to ensure trials were completed within 120 days of charges being framed.
Shafiqul said that the legislation contained provisions to protect the rights of victims, whistleblowers and witnesses, and ensured compensation and legal assistance.
He said that it also required the creation of a dedicated fund and the establishment of a national database to strengthen prevention, investigation and protection mechanisms.
The press secretary stated that Bangladesh had ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on August 29, 2024, and that the ordinance had been drafted in accordance with the standards of the convention and the constitutional guarantees of the right to life and personal liberty.
