Bangladesh government faces allegations of thousands of enforced disappearances during rule

Bangladesh Commission Report Reveals Enforced Disappearance Statistics

A report by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has confirmed that 1,569 out of 1,913 complaints filed with the commission were deemed to have disappeared by “definition after verification selection.” This category includes 287 allegations where individuals are reported as missing and dead.

According to the report, the number of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh could be between 4,000 and 6,000. Commission member Nabila Idris stated that many victims of enforced disappearance remain uncontacted or have moved abroad, leading to an estimated increase in the actual number of cases.

The commission’s findings suggest a “primarily political motive” behind the forced disappearances. Of those who had disappeared and returned alive, 75 percent were members of Jamaat-e-Islami, while 22 percent belonged to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The report also identified evidence pointing towards Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, her defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

The commission’s interim head, Muhammad Yunus, praised the members of the inquiry for their work on investigating enforced disappearances. He noted that the report provides a documentation of the treatment of people in Bangladesh under the current government. The report was posted on Facebook by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and has been shared widely.

Source: Al Jazeera