[🇧🇩] UN investigation into enforced disappearances /deaths of students/citizens at the hands of security agencies

[Bilal9]

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[Saif]

Law minister defends move to replace enforced disappearance ordinance

Current ordinance contains flaws that could weaken justice for victims, he says

www.thedailystar.net

Law minister defends move to replace enforced disappearance ordinance

Current ordinance contains flaws that could weaken justice for victims, he says

Star Online Report

Photo: Screengrab

Law Minister Md Asaduzzman today said that the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025 will be reintroduced at the parliament as one that is “more contemporary, more welfare-oriented, and more effective in ensuring justice.”

The minister added that the bill will be brought later in the session, after consultations with stakeholders, to ensure that offenders “cannot escape accountability under any circumstances.”

He made these remarks while speaking on a point of order in the parliament, following protests from Jamaat MP Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem. Ahmad expressed shock that the special parliamentary committee had recommended dropping the ordinance and not ratifying it as a bill.

Fighting back emotion, Ahmad -- who himself was a victim of enforced disappearance for several years -- said he had lived in constant fear of death throughout that time and was now dismayed that the ordinance was being allowed to lapse.

If the government wants to make changes, it should first approve the ordinance, turn it into law, and amend it later, he said.

“But if that is not done, then once the law expires on April 11, there will be no legal definition of enforced disappearance from April 12,” he said.

In reply, the law minister said the way the ordinances of Human Rights Commission and Enforced Disappearance Prevention have been framed would be unjust to victims of enforced disappearance.

He said in the ICT Act already included the definition of enforced disappearance under crimes against humanity. He explained that law did provide for trials and investigations of the crime. “At the same time, in the enforced disappearance ordinance, we are proposing a separate investigation process. Under the ICT Act, the maximum punishment for perpetrators of enforced disappearance is either the death penalty or life imprisonment. But in the ordinance on enforced disappearance, the maximum sentence has been limited to 10 years,” he said.

If the Human Rights Commission ordinance is kept in its current form, victims of human rights violations will face additional harassment and further violations in the name of investigation, because of the time frame stipulated in the law.

The home minister recounted his days awaiting death, and spoke about how he was then dumped in a neighbouring country where he faced trial, and eventually returned to Bangladesh.

“There is no reason to think that those responsible for enforced disappearance will be able to slip through the cracks of the law. That is why we have said: the punishments prescribed in the enforced disappearance ordinance, the investigation procedures mentioned there, and the provisions in the ICT Act regarding crimes against humanity must not conflict with one another. For this reason, these laws need careful scrutiny,” he added.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad remarked that this was a very important matter raised by the Jamaat MP. “The law minister has assured us that a stronger law to prevent enforced disappearance will be introduced later.”

Many prominent individuals and innocent political activists have been victims of enforced disappearance, he said. “We hope that the government, ruling party members, and opposition members together will enact such a strong law that no citizen will ever again fall victim to enforced disappearance. Please be patient. This parliament will surely pass such a law.”​