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(New York)- Bangladesh Human Rights Watch said today that the interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, should seek United Nations expertise and technical assistance to set up a new commission of inquiry to investigate all cases of enforced disappearances during Sheikh Hasina’s 15 years in power. Announced the establishment of a five-member team The panel is led by a retired judge and includes another former judge, a university lecturer and two human rights activists.
The government also Commitment Signed this International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced DisappearanceThis is a milestone move in many years The previous government’s refusal It also agreed to Support to the United Nations fact-finding team Investigate abuses during recent protests that led to Sheikh Hasina resigns as prime minister and flees the country.
“With this commission of inquiry, Bangladesh has the opportunity to seek justice for the victims of enforced disappearances and their families, many of whom have desperately sought answers only to be denied, threatened and humiliated by officials,” he said. Meenakshi GangulyDeputy Director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch. “The government should seize the opportunity to establish a robust process that draws on international expertise, including forensic expertise, to investigate these abuses and work with victims and their families to find avenues for reparations.”
AudicaFamous human rights organization in Bangladesh estimate During Hasina’s rule, 708 people were forcibly disappeared. Although some were later released, brought to justice, or reportedly died in armed encounters with security forces, Nearly 100 people missing.
The Commission of Inquiry should investigate each case, regardless of whether the person was deported, killed or disappeared. The Commission of Inquiry should also be mandated to identify all Secret detention centresthe interim government should immediately close these institutions and release anyone still held in solitary confinement. The commission should be empowered to make recommendations on prosecuting suspects, providing compensation to victims and their families, enacting specific legislation, and institutional and other reforms to prevent a repetition of past violations.
The newly formed commission said it will submit its report within 45 days. To effectively perform its duties, the commission should be provided with adequate resources and authority to obtain all necessary information, including the power to compel the attendance and cooperation of state officials and law enforcement officers as witnesses and to order the production of records by government, police and other officials. The commission should establish various avenues for the submission of evidence so that the process is easy to understand and all interested parties have the opportunity to participate.
Given the deep-rooted impunity for abuses by security forces in Bangladesh, the interim government should request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other United Nations human rights experts to Provide technical support and oversee investigationsInvestigators should also work closely with Maayer Daak (“Mother’s Call”) and other organizations representing victims and their families.
Throughout its investigation, the Commission should seek the views of victims on what forms of reparation would truly acknowledge the harm suffered, in addition to bringing those responsible to justice. The Commission should recommend a comprehensive range of reparations measures. According to international standardsincluding compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.
The interim government should commit to ensuring effective reparations, including by responding to Maye Dak’s call for a memorial to honour the victims of enforced disappearances and their families, and to combating future disappearances.
The report’s conclusions and recommendations should be publicly available and accessible, and should be regularly updated on their implementation. The evidence collected by the commission should be preserved and made available to judicial and other official inquiries in Bangladesh and elsewhere, and the commission should identify an independent entity to keep the records securely after the investigation is completed.
Three victims of enforced disappearance: Michael Chakma, Mir Ahmed bin Qassem and Abdullah Aman al-Azmi — were released shortly after Hasina fled the country. In all three cases, authorities for years denied detaining them.
Chakma described in an interview with the media that he was detained in a cell called Ainagar (Mirror House) He is being held in a compound run by military intelligence. Since his release he has had difficulty walking and reading and suffers from recurring nightmares. as if Chakma said they were held in solitary confinement in near darkness but could hear others being tortured, suggesting others may still be held in secret detention centers.
“The only sound was the constant whirring of the fans and the muffled cries of other prisoners in nearby cells. I couldn’t see how many of us there were, but the sounds of crying and desperation gave me an idea of the number,” Chakma explain.
“I could hear people crying, I could hear people being tortured, I could hear people screaming.” Kassem told AFP.
Human Rights Watch said the commission’s mandate should include investigating torture and other ill-treatment suffered by victims. The government should ensure that individuals implicated in violations found by the commission’s investigations are investigated and brought to justice. Yunus should facilitate visits to the country by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances and the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions and seek their advice and recommendations.
On August 16, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Calling on the government The Commissioner also called for the launch of “comprehensive, impartial and transparent investigations into all human rights violations and abuses that have occurred” and the release of all victims of enforced disappearances. Determined the need Following the recent protests, the European Union released a report calling for an independent investigation into rights violations, including enforced disappearances.
Under Hasina’s leadership, the government has Denied Security forces carried out enforced disappearances and insisted that those who disappeared had gone into hiding voluntarily. Enforced disappearance have Being harassed Some have faced retaliation from authorities, with some forced to sign false statements claiming they had deliberately misled police and the public.
Bangladesh has no witness protection law or system. The interim government should continue to push forward Proposed legislation The Witness Protection Scheme drafted by the Legal Commission nearly 15 years ago and donor governments should provide financial support for its implementation. At the same time, the Commission of Inquiry should take special precautions to ensure that all witnesses are protected from harassment, threats, intimidation and retaliation.
To ensure that violations do not recur, the interim government should undertake institutional reforms to allow civilian oversight of the security forces and immediately disband the Rapid Action Battalion, a notoriously abusive paramilitary force sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2021 for human rights violations, particularly enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
“Holding accountability for enforced disappearances in Bangladesh and informing victims’ families of what happened to their loved ones is an important first step towards a future that respects human rights,” Ganguly said. “Yunus should call on the UN to ensure that Bangladesh’s newly established commission has adequate resources and the authority to gather all the information necessary to provide answers and justice to victims of enforced disappearances, their families, and communities.”
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