‘Gentlemen’ involved in ‘enforced disappearances’, says chief adviser

"Gentlemen" of society and “our own relatives” were involved in the incidents of enforced disappearances, said Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus after receiving the second interim report by the Commission on Enforced Disappearance.

He also spoke of setting up a museum of “horrors” to exhibit these incidents.

The members of the commission, led by retired High Court justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury, submitted the second interim report of the Commission on Enforced Disappearances to the chief adviser at 11am on Wednesday.

“Such gruesome incidents these are!” the chief adviser said after he was handed the report.

“A museum of horrors should be set up based on what you have found. These incidents give you goosebumps. What kind of prison is this? The brutality and cruelty of being locked up in a three-feet-by-three-feet place day after day, month after month- all these should be presented to the public," said Yunus.

He said the report should be published in the form of a website and a book. People not only in Bangladesh but also globally had an interest in the report, he said.

Yunus gave instructions to the commission members to identify the immediate tasks of the report and specify which tasks fall under which ministry, so that the government could start working on them quickly.

One of the commission members told the chief adviser, "The incidents are so horrific that many of the officers and others involved became remorseful. They contacted us in an attempt to purify themselves. Two officers even sought relief from this in writing. The letters were found at the Gonobhaban. The then army chief had publicly admitted receiving the letters.”

The commission’s members said they had received 1,850 complaints so far, and 1,350 of them were verified. They also said that the number of complaints could exceed 3,500.

More than 300 of the victims of enforced disappearance were still missing, they said.

The commission chief requested the chief adviser to take initiatives to ensure the families of the missing people could at least hold transactions in banks.

He said the existing law considers a person missing for seven years as dead, and recommended amending the law, making the time limit five years.

Yunus suggested that the commission draft recommendations in this regard.

The chief adviser thanked the commission members and said, “You are working after braving all threats and fear. You’ll be an inspiration for the people in Bangladesh. You’re an inspiration to those who’ll be working to uphold human rights in the future.”

Commission members Nur Khan, Sajjad Hossain and Nabila Idris were present.

The government formed a commission led by retired Justice Mainul to investigate cases of enforced disappearances allegedly carried out by law-enforcing agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion, police, and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, during the 15-year rule of the Sheikh Hasina regime.

The commission's mandate is to investigate enforced disappearances involving members of the Bangladesh Police, RAB, Border Guard Bangladesh, Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch, Detective Branch, Ansar Battalion, National Security Intelligence, or NSI, and DGFI.

The commission has been tasked with investigating cases of disappearances from Jan 6, 2009 to Aug 5, 2024.

The commission was given until Sept 30 to prepare its initial report. It was later extended to Oct 10.