Those involved in enforced disappearances are still at heart of power, victims threatened: commission chief

Many officials involved in enforced disappearances during the deposed Awami League government still remain at the heart of state power, the commission on enforced disappearances has said.

The panel also found evidence that these officials are intimidating both victims and witnesses.

Commenting that the names of these officials will not be disclosed at this stage at a briefing on Thursday in Dhaka’s Gulshan, the commission’s Chairman retired justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury said: “Revealing their names could put the victims’ lives at risk.”

Presenting a written statement at the briefing, he said the commission had submitted its second interim report to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus on Jun 4.

“In the report, we outlined how, under the previous authoritarian government, enforced disappearance was used systematically as a tool of repression against opposition political forces and dissenters in Bangladesh. Even after the changeover in power on Aug 5 last year, many perpetrators and their allies have remained in positions of power, leading to the destruction of key evidence, institutional non-cooperation, intimidation of witnesses, and the creation of a climate of fear and terror.”

Asked about the identities of the officials involved, he said: “We are not disclosing the names of those we’ve identified — primarily for the safety and security of the victims. Those involved in the enforced disappearances are still threatening victims. We even possess an audio recording of one such threat made to a victim.”

“We do not want to jeopardise the lives of the victims and their families. Ensuring the safety of victims and witnesses has been entrusted to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). That is now their responsibility, as we don’t have any enforcement mechanism.”

The issues of enforced disappearances and the so-called Ayna Ghor, or “house of mirrors” detention centres resurfaced prominently in public discourse following the Awami League government’s fall in the face of a massive student-led mass movement.

On Aug 27 last year, the interim government formed a five-strong commission to investigate these incidents, headed by retired justice Moinul.

The commission submitted its first interim report to the chief advisor on Dec 14, 2024. Portions of the report were made public the following day.

That report claimed to have found evidence implicating Hasina in “ordering enforced disappearances” during the Awami League’s tenure.

The commission has taken into account incidents of enforced disappearance that occurred between Jan 6, 2009, and Aug 5, 2024 — the entire duration of Awami League rule.

To date, the commission has received 1,850 complaints. After reviewing and verifying 1,350 of them, it compiled the findings into its second report.

Referring to steps the commission is taking to locate the disappeared individuals, the chairman clarified: “There are two aspects under the Code of Criminal Procedure — inquiry and investigation. We are conducting an inquiry, not an investigation. The responsibility for investigation lies with the ICT and police. Searching is a part of investigation, not inquiry. Keep in mind that a search involves a much deeper level of investigation.”

Commission member Sajjad Hossain explained further, “It doesn’t mean that we’re doing no search work at all. The commission is engaged in four types of search efforts, such as:

• It has referred 131 cases to police, instructing them to investigate and locate the individuals.
• Based on specific information, it is conducting inspections of suspected secret detention facilities.
• It has requested and partially received from the home ministry a list of Bangladeshi nationals in Indian jails. The authorities are checking those names with the list of disappeared persons.
• The commission is also checking whether any of those being pushed back across various border points are among the disappeared.