SLOW progress in the arrest and trial of accused Awami League leaders and officers of different law enforcement and security agencies involved in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings is disconcerting. What is more disconcerting is that the authorities are yet to trace the whereabouts and status of nearly 200 victims of enforced disappearance incidents. Families of the victims of enforced disappearances at a rally, organised by Mayer Daak on April 20, in front of the Supreme Court gate in the capital expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress in the arrest and trial of the perpetrators. They also expressed concern over very few arrests over enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. They also submitted a six-point memorandum to the chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal. They have demanded, among others, the public disclosure of the names of officers and government officials allegedly involved in enforced disappearances; the removal and prosecution of perpetrators from security forces; legal action against those who destroyed evidence; constitutional and legal reforms to prevent further abuses; and formal recognition and state support for victims鈥� families.
All these are demands that echo public sentiment and that are absolutely necessary for the authorities to ensure that heinous crimes like enforced disappearances do not happen ever again. Over 600 cases of enforced disappearances were reported by different local and international rights organisations during the Awami League regime while many more complaints came to the surface after the fall of the Awami League. The interim government, which took office on August 8, 2024, three days after the fall of the Awami League government, formed a Commission for Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, which received complaints regarding the enforced disappearance of over 1,600 victims, the incidents of which occurred during the immediate past rule of the now ousted Awami League. The commission also found detention centres in eight locations in the compounds of law enforcement and security agency offices, including the joint interrogation cells, popularly known as Aynaghar, on the premises of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence headquarters, in Dhaka city and its surrounding areas. Rights activists rightly say that the secret detention centres are a scar to the country, an affront to justice and a blatant abuse of law enforcement and intelligence units.
The authorities must heed the demands placed by Mayer Daak. The authorities must ensure that a heinous crime like enforced disappearance does not happen again and that agencies are never politicised and never engage in criminal, illegal, or extra-legal deeds. For that, the government must bring all responsible parties, including the errant members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, to justice and make the required reforms to the operation of law enforcement and intelligence units.