The interim government on Tuesday constituted a five-member commission of inquiry to investigate into and identify the causes of enforced disappearances by the members of law enforcement agencies during the tenure of the Awami League government.
The commission was made with retired High Court judge Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury as the chair, while former additional High Court judge M Farid Ahmed Shibli, human rights activists Nur Khan and Sazzad Hossain, and BRAC University teacher Nabila Idris were made members of the commission, according to a gazette notification issued by the cabinet secretary.
The commission was assigned to submit its report to the government within 45 working days.
Its terms of reference include identifying the individuals subjected to enforced disappearances by law enforcement agencies鈥攕uch as Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion, Border Guard Bangladesh, Criminal Investigation Department,聽 Special Branch, Detective Branch, Ansar Battalion, National Security Intelligence, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, and Bangladesh Coast Guard鈥� between January 1, 2010聽 and August 5, 2024, the day when Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India amid a student-led mass uprising.
The commission is also required to issue statements to the relevant authorities regarding the incidents, make recommendations, and inform the relatives of the victims if they are located.
Additionally, it will gather information on investigations conducted by other organisations or institutions regarding enforced disappearances.
Earlier, on August 21, the chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, announced at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy that the government would establish the commission, citing that approximately 700 people had been forcibly disappeared during Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 tenure, with around 150 still missing.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, along with international and local rights groups, had long been demanding independent investigations into the 鈥榰nabated enforced disappearances鈥� in Bangladesh, highlighting the lack of access to justice for victims during the Awami League鈥檚 regime.
They argued that enforced disappearances had become widespread since the Awami League took power in 2009, occurring with blatant impunity.
They stated that, since the Awami League came to power in 2009, enforced disappearances had become widespread, continuing with blatant impunity. Although the number of such incidents had decreased since the US government in December 2021 imposed sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion and seven of it鈥檚 the then current and former top officials for alleged gross human rights violations, enforced disappearances persisted.
In a statement in May 2023, rights group Odhikar said that they had documented 21 cases of enforced disappearances in 2022 and eight more in the first three months of 2023.
Earlier, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) repeatedly urged the Bangladesh government to provide information and respond to general allegations sent after its 125th session in September 2021.
WGEID also called for independent and impartial investigations into allegations of enforced disappearances by the RAB.
In a written statement to the WGEID鈥檚 128th session in September 2022, the Asian Human Rights Commission reported at least 623 cases of disappearances in Bangladesh between January 2009 and June 2022.