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

[Saif]

Enforced disappearances: Bodies were disposed of near rail tracks, in rivers, witness tells ICT-1

The witness said a group of men picked him up, handcuffed and blindfolded, from his Nilphamari home on April 13, 2016

www.thedailystar.net

Enforced disappearances: Bodies were disposed of near rail tracks, in rivers, witness tells ICT-1

The witness said a group of men picked him up, handcuffed and blindfolded, from his Nilphamari home on April 13, 2016

Star Online Report

A prosecution witness today told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that the bodies of victims of enforced disappearance were disposed of near railway tracks and in rivers.

He cited an interrogator as saying during his detention at a secret facility, where he was also threatened to death.

Nur-e-Alam, a former Chhatra Dal leader from Nilphamari, made the allegations while testifying in a case over the enforced disappearance and illegal confinement of 24 people at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), operated by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) during the Awami League regime.

Out of the 13 accused -- Maj Gen Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain and Brigadier Generals Md Mahbub Rahman Siddique and Ahmed Tanvir Majahar Siddique -- were in the dock during the proceedings. Other accused, including deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, are absconding.

The witness said a group of men picked him up, handcuffed and blindfolded, from his Nilphamari home on April 13, 2016, in a microbus, and later held in a small cell and repeatedly interrogated about his BNP links and social media posts criticising the AL government and India.

During one interrogation, an unidentified official allegedly told him, “The bodies found beside railway tracks, rivers and in sacks -- we do it…,” before beating him up and forcing him to write details about his education, family and political associates.

Alam also alleged that a female interrogator tied his hands, suspended him from a hook and beat him from the waist down.

He said he spent 14-15 days in one cell he believed to be around Dhaka Cantonment before being moved to another facility, where he was kept for around 40 days. Despite suffering injuries and illness, he received no medical treatment.

On his cell walls, he saw writings including pleas for rescue, dates and phone numbers.

Meanwhile, in a crimes against humanity case against former MP Shamim Osman and 11 others, garment truck driver Samrat Hossain, 33, told the ICT-1 that he lost vision in his right eye after being shot during the July uprising at Chashara in Narayanganj on July 19.

Testifying in the case, Samrat said around 40 pellets were lodged in his body, including in his eyes, head and other parts, as Shamim, his son Ayon, nephew Azmeri, and Chhatra League and Jubo League activists opened fire on protesters.

He also said he later had to undergo five surgeries and treatment at two Dhaka hospitals.

“I cannot see with my right eye, and have difficulty seeing with my left eye,” he told ICT-1.

He added that doctors said vision in his right eye will not return and may deteriorate further.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/309889/draft-enforced-disappearance-law-draws-flak

Draft enforced disappearance law draws flak

Police designated to conduct probe, rights defenders seek independent probe mechanism

Solamain Salman and M Moneruzzaman 15 August, 2026, 01:32

The government has moved to enact the draft Enforced Disappearance (Prevention and Remedy) Bill, 2026, proposing to allow the police to investigate allegations of enforced disappearances.

The proposal has raised concerns because members of law enforcement and security agencies have long been accused of involvement themselves in many enforced disappearance cases.

Human rights defenders and legal experts say that allowing the police to investigate under section 14 such allegations could weaken accountability and hurt public confidence in the justice system.

They also fear that a provision of the act, if it remains as proposed, allowing courts to punish complainants if allegations are found to be false could discourage victims and witnesses from coming forward for justice.

The law, they said, should provide for an independent investigation body because agencies accused of involvement in enforced disappearances cannot credibly investigate such cases themselves.

They argued that many past allegations of enforced disappearance involved members of law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies.

The interim government had earlier formed a Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, which documented 1,913 complaints of such disappearances that occurred during the 15 years of AL regime.

According to the commission, the Rapid Action Battalion was involved in almost 25 per cent of complaints, followed by the police in nearly 23 per cent and the Detective Branch in 14.5 per cent of complaints.

Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman told New Age that if the Cabinet-approved draft retained the provision to mandate the police to investigate and report on allegations of crimes related to enforced disappearances exclusive of an independent authority like NHRC the law would effectively mean that perpetrators would become judges of their alleged crimes.

‘This would mean to provide legal impunity and protection for the accused, especially those related to the ruling authority, police, security and intelligence agencies and a section of the armed forces who have been historically responsible for the greater share of this crime,’ he said.

Iftekharuzzaman also said that this provision would also mean that the government had hardly taken any lesson from the bitter experiences of the 15 years of authoritarian rule and from the aspirations of the July movement.

Supreme court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir urged the government to withdraw the draft law and formulate instead a comprehensive law, incorporating international standards and protocols.

He went on to point out that most allegations of enforced disappearance had involved law enforcement agencies, making police investigations ineffective.

He also noted that the interim government had earlier empowered the National Human Rights Commission to investigate such offences before the present government repealed that provision.

According to Shishir, the draft law treats enforced disappearance like an ordinary criminal offence by applying the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penal Code instead of creating a separate legal framework for this extraordinary crime.

Rights activist Nur Khan Liton, a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances formed during interim government, Bangladesh’s past experience showed that law enforcement agencies had themselves been accused in many enforced disappearance cases, making it difficult for victims to trust police investigations.

Nur Khan also expressed concern over section 21 of the draft law, which allows legal action against complainants if allegations were found false by a court, with a possible punishment of up to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

The provision can discourage victims and their families from filing complaints as many might fear facing punishment if they fail to prove their allegations, he observed.

Brac University teacher Nabila Idris, who was a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, questioned whether there had been any significant reform in the police force that would justify assigning them the responsibility of investigating such cases.

Nabila also said that if the police were to run the inquiry, the probe in enforced disappearance would be delayed while victims would not get justice on time.

Another human rights activist, Abu Ahmed Faizul Kabir, said that the government should establish an independent investigation mechanism in the proposed law.

Bangladesh, he said, has already had the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013, but victims have little confidence in police-run investigations as only 18 cases have been filed against police personnel under the law since the law came into force.

Rights organisation Odhikar echoed those concerns, saying that investigations conducted by the police into allegations against law enforcement agencies were unlikely to be impartial.

In a statement, the organisation urged the government to place the investigation authority under the NHRC or establish a dedicated commission of inquiry on enforced disappearances.

On August 3, the cabinet approved the draft of Enforced Disappearance law that prescribes life imprisonment or at least three years of imprisonment and a fine of up to Tk 50 lakh for enforced disappearance.

If the victim dies or remains missing for five years, the punishment may be death, life imprisonment or at least five years of imprisonment, along with a fine of up to Tk 1 crore, it said.

Investigations must normally be completed within 90 days of the filing of the case, extendable by up to 30 days. The requirement for prior government approval to prosecute has also been removed.

It allows trial in absentia in specified circumstances and requires trials to be completed within 90 working days, extendable by another 30 working days with reasons recorded.

An ordinance promulgated by the interim government had authorised the NHRC to investigate enforced disappearance cases. But the ordinance lapsed after failing to secure parliamentary approval during the first session of Jatiya Sangsad.​

 

[Saif]

Questions raised over investigations into enforced disappearances, calls for amendments to bills

Human rights activists, lawyers and former members of the commission that investigated enforced disappearances have questioned a provision in two bills on human rights and enforced disappearances that would give the relevant law enforcement agencies the power to investigate allegations against...

en.prothomalo.com

Questions raised over investigations into enforced disappearances, calls for amendments to bills

Staff Correspondent
Dhaka
Published: 29 Aug 2026, 21: 45

Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) organised a discussion ahead of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances at the National Press Club in Dhaka on 29 August. Prothom Alo

Human rights activists, lawyers and former members of the commission that investigated enforced disappearances have questioned a provision in two bills on human rights and enforced disappearances that would give the relevant law enforcement agencies the power to investigate allegations against their own forces.

They have called for amendments to the bills, warning that passing them without ensuring independent investigations would make it even more difficult to secure justice and accountability for enforced disappearances.

They made the remarks at a discussion held at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon to commemorate victims of enforced disappearances. Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) organised the event ahead of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30 August.

Victims of enforced disappearance and their family members, human rights activists, lawyers and civil society representatives attended the event.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain said both the proposed laws on the National Human Rights Commission and prevention of enforced disappearances should provide for an independent investigation process.

“If the investigation process is not changed, people will essentially be deceived. You cannot be the judge of your own case,” she said.

She also said both laws were necessary.

Sara Hossain said there was no neighbouring country with such an arrangement. “The big test now is what the parliamentary standing committee will do with the two bills. It remains to be seen how much they will take expert opinions into account,” she said.

She also described the role of the courts as another major test. “Our courts have failed. Almost no one could approach the courts. …Those who did approach them did not get any kind of remedy there. …This is also a major test for the government: will they remain silent as before? Will they give the courts no direction…will they ignore the entire process? Or will they create an opportunity for accountability there for the first time?” she said.

Noor Khan Liton, a former member of the commission that investigated enforced disappearances, said it would be better not to have a law at all if the National Human Rights Commission was not given effective authority to investigate enforced disappearances allegedly carried out by law enforcement agencies.

“There is no point spending so much money to support five commissioners, giving them cars, security and offices if they cannot do this,” he said.

Noor Khan said the proposed law must give the National Human Rights Commission the authority to independently investigate enforced disappearances allegedly carried out by law enforcement agencies.

Keeping the commission dependent on the agencies by merely obtaining information from them or conducting inquiries through them would not ensure effective investigations, he said.

‘Will facilitate enforced disappearances’

Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem, also known as Barrister Arman, a Dhaka-14 lawmaker who was himself a victim of enforced disappearance during the previous Awami League government, said the current parliament was a gathering of people who had suffered persecution.

“There is no member of parliament here whose family or they themselves have not faced oppression or persecution over the past 17 years. A law that will facilitate enforced disappearances is now going to be passed by those very people who suffered,” he said.

Photographer Shahidul Alam said, “It is said that these laws are being framed in a way that benefits the security forces. But the security forces themselves are responsible for these things. And the responsibility of elected representatives is to control these security forces. If they do not control them but instead allow them to operate according to their wishes, then they are no longer representatives of the people.”

Shahidul Alam said, “I want to remind the government that…your job is not to please the security forces, nor is it to serve your own interests; you are supposed to work in the interests of the people who brought you here.”

‘Why are you leaving the door open?’

Nabila Idris, a former member of the commission on enforced disappearances, said, “The government repeatedly says, ‘We are not going to carry out enforced disappearances, so why are you so worried?’ If you are not going to carry out enforced disappearances, then why are you leaving the door open? If the door remains open, sooner or later someone will enter through it.”

Family members of victims of enforced disappearance also attended the event. They called for information about the whereabouts of their missing relatives and demanded that those responsible for enforced disappearances be brought to justice.

Liza Islam, sister of Miraj Sheikh, who has been missing since he was allegedly taken away in Mongla by people identifying themselves as Coast Guard personnel, called for information about her brother.

HRSS demands

HRSS Executive Director Ijajul Islam presented several demands on behalf of the organisation. These included locating Miraj Sheikh, who may have been a victim of enforced disappearance in Mongla, and others who went missing during the Awami League government; ensuring independent investigations into enforced disappearance cases; implementing the final recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances; ensuring trials for past enforced disappearances; amending the law on prevention of enforced disappearances; ensuring the right of families of victims to know the truth; and ensuring the independence of the National Human Rights Commission.

HRSS General Secretary Monirul Islam delivered the welcome address at the event. Others who spoke included International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor Shaikh Mahdi and Sabrina Ahmed, assistant human rights officer at the Bangladesh office of HCHR, among others.​