THE victims of Aynaghar, where they were held in inhuman conditions during the Awami League regime, have started to recount the horrific ordeals that they have gone through. The victims come from different age groups as well as political and social backgrounds. The victims of enforced disappearances must now get justice. Moreover, the victim families deserve to know the whereabouts of their loved ones in order to have peace. But justice is required not only for the victims of enforced disappearances but also for victims of human rights violations that occurred in the last 15 years. A country rarely moves forward if there is no sense of justice and reconciliation. In other words, the people of Bangladesh deserve to heal, and to heal they require the truth, justice and reconciliation. Essentially, Bangladesh requires a truth commission.
According to the International Justice Resource Centre, truth commissions 鈥渟erve to answer the many unanswered questions generated by enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and other crimes committed鈥� during a period of time. According to Priscilla B Hayner, an expert on truth commission, truth commissions typically have four components: (1) they focus on past violations rather than present violations; (2) they seek to present a comprehensive picture of international human rights violations over time rather than on a single violation; (3) while they operate for a short period of time, they deliver a report summarising their findings; and finally, (4) they always have some kind of authority that allows them access to information and protection when investigating sensitive issues such as enforced disappearances. Truth commissions are not a new concept in Asia. In 2010, the Philippines Truth Commission was created to tackle corruption.听
For Bangladesh, this can be done under the National Human Rights Commission, but in an ideal setting, it should be set up with members who are independent and international lawyers who specialise in enforced disappearances. This might be welcomed by the public, and there are international lawyers who are ready to assist Bangladesh with this. Furthermore, the National Human Rights Commission demanded a full disclosure of enforced disappearances.
Currently, Bangladesh has access to many examples to draw lessons from to set up its own truth commission to assist the victims and the country. For example, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up by the Government of National Unity to help deal with what happened under apartheid. And currently, 137 cases derived from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have been registered for investigations and prosecution with the South African authorities for the crimes that were committed during the apartheid time. Colombia鈥檚 Truth Commission was established as a result of the 2016 Peace Accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and included looking into enforced disappearances that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. It also looked at violations against freedoms as part of the Truth Commission, a very much needed component in Bangladesh. Bangladesh鈥檚 truth commission can recommend prosecution of the perpetrators of enforced disappearances and whether it should be prosecuted at the International Crimes Tribunals or at a local court. The commission could even set up its own court to prosecute the perpetrators, similar to Colombia. In Colombia, a transitional justice court was set up to address the killings of hundreds of thousands of people, where a general and 10 others admitted to crimes against humanity. Furthermore, Argentina had its own truth commission to investigate more than 30,000 forced disappearances committed during the Dirty War. Their truth commission report opened the door to the trial of the Juntas, which prosecuted perpetrators of war crimes. Thanks to Bangladesh鈥檚 presence at the UN, the interim government can always request various countries to guide the process who themselves have gone through the process.听
Many of the victims of enforced disappearances deserve reparations. Oftentimes, as we have seen with enforced disappearances, the victim was typically the breadwinner of the family. Furthermore, international law recognises that victims have a right to reparation. They meant to redress violations of human rights by providing different types of reparations to victims or their families as well as affected communities. They must be adequate, effective, prompt, and should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered. In a Bangladeshi setting, compensation should be provided for any economic damage, loss of earnings, loss of economic opportunities or moral damages. Secondly, rehabilitation for victims and their families should include medical and psychological care and legal and social services. Furthermore, a policy of non-repetition can also be part of reparations. In Colombia and in many other Latin American countries where enforced disappearances have occurred, truth commissions and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights generally recommend non-repetition as a part of reparation. Also, Bangladesh should consider ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances to demonstrate that the state will never repeat such heinous crimes again and adopting Bangladesh鈥檚 domestic legislation to recognise enforced disappearances as a crime.
Finally, arguments were made for setting up a UN-backed ad hoc court. While this is nice in theory, a word of caution should be given. These tribunals are expensive and require support of the international community. Currently, given the fact that the International Criminal Court is facing a budget crisis, the international community might be reluctant to support the creation of another UN-backed court. Already, many scholars have argued that the Khmer Rouge Tribunal was inefficient and costly. The overall cost of having the Khmer Rouge Tribunal was over 330 million dollars. The Special Court for Sierra Leone was paid in huge part by the American and British taxpayers. And the UN itself is facing a budget crisis. Secondly, these institutions require time to be established. For example, the Special Criminal Court was created in 2015 before the first judgement was handed over in 2023 by the Appeal Chamber. The Special Court of Sierra Leone lasted for more than a decade. At the Khmer Rouge tribunal, victims waited for decades before they received any justice. In some cases, the perpetrators were acquitted, and only three were convicted. And many victims passed away before they saw the light of justice. It is doubtful that the victims in Bangladesh are willing to wait for years to receive justice, and we must not forget the old adage that justice delayed is justice denied.听
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Iffat Rahman is a lawyer in Canada.听 She is currently an external counsel as a victims鈥� representative and previously worked at the International Criminal Court in a defence capacity. She has also worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia. She also worked briefly at the UNHCR Malaysia.