Bangladesh observed the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Saturday amidst calls for ensuring security to enforced disappearance survivors, tracing the victims of the crime still missing, and bringing its perpetrators, who operated with impunity under the Awami League’s regime, to book.
“Those who have returned are still living in fear. They are deeply traumatised, and their recovery won’t be easy. The government must act urgently, ensuring medical care as well as social and economic security,” said Dr. Md Tawohidul Haque, who teaches criminology at Dhaka University.
For over 15 years during the AL regime, Bangladesh saw over 3,500 people become victims of enforced disappearance, according to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances formed by the interim government in August last year. Some of the victims resurfaced after the fall of the AL regime but many victims are still missing.
The commission submitted two reports, with its latest report submitted on June 4 revealing the formal receipt of 1,850 disappearance cases so far.
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Mayer Daak, an organisation of families of the victims of enforced disappearance, has information on 150 victims still missing.
“Over the past one and a half decades, victims of state-sponsored enforced disappearances have faced four different fates: some were killed, some branded as militants and held, some forcibly pushed across the border into India, and the luckiest were eventually released after detention,” said Commission chief Moinul Islam Chowdhury.
Rahmat Ullah, a young man from Barnalai village in Dhaka’s Dhamrai upazila, was among the crowd pushed into India. He remained missing for 16 months before finally reappearing on December 22, 2024.
With no direct political affiliation, Rahmat had been picked up from his home by members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on August 29, 2023, the victim’s family said.
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He recounted to his family that after being held at an undisclosed location in Dhaka—where he could only hear planes flying overhead—he was blindfolded, placed in a microbus, and later left near the Jashore border to cross into India. He was arrested in India for illegal intrusion and released after the fall of the AL regime.
But not everyone was as fortunate as Rahmat. The families of the missing are caught in a painful limbo. Besides carrying the painful burden of having to wait for their loved one to emerge alive, albeit through a miracle, the victims’ families, without proof of death, are unable to claim inheritance rights, access bank accounts, or secure livelihoods.
Criminologist Tawohidul said the government’s efforts remain inadequate. “Several state forces were involved in disappearances. If they are held accountable, information on the missing will surface. This is not beyond the government’s capacity. With genuine effort, the missing could either be brought back or, at the very least, families informed if they are dead. The state cannot shirk this responsibility.”
The commission’s second report points to the direct involvement of law enforcement agencies, including RAB, DGFI and CTTC, in cases of enforced disappearances. Even after the fall of the Awami League, many officials initially withheld information about secret detention facilities and then disappeared. Many of them have yet to face justice.
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“For 15 years, state forces were misused in the worst possible way. Officers were ordered to abduct and kill individuals. Unless these state-backed killings are prosecuted, enforced disappearances cannot be eradicated,” said a commission member, seeking anonymity.
“By using RAB and DGFI officers for political ends, the Awami League government systematically dismantled institutional structures. Without structural reform within the security forces, justice for victims will remain elusive,” the member added.
Families of the disappeared complain about facing intimidation. They also believe the government’s efforts were not adequate to help them with the situation. Many believe information is being suppressed.
Mayer Daak recently held a human chain to press home an 11-point demand—including impartial investigations, a national mechanism aligned with international standards, withdrawal of cases in which many of the returned victims were framed by the AL government, and legal rights for families of the missing over property and inheritance.
A source at the law ministry said work is underway, based on the commission’s recommendations, to introduce special legal provisions, ensuring inheritance rights for families of those who remain missing.
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Major political parties have meanwhile pledged that enforced disappearances will not recur in the future, regardless of who holds power. They have also promised justice for those responsible.
Bangladesh signed the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2024, making its stance clear on paper.
But experts warn that without political will and democratic practice, mere signatures on conventions will not be enough to end enforced disappearances.