CA Yunus pledges all possible support for a commission on enforced disappearances

Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus today (9 November) pledged all possible support to the Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances to identify the people responsible for the enforced disappearances between 2009 and 2024 and hold them to account.

“We will facilitate everything you need and provide all kinds of support,” the chief advisor told committee members during a meeting attended by several advisors and key officials in his office.

Committee members said they would submit an interim report to the government in mid-December before working further on the matter.

Legal advisor Asif Nazrul said the government would extend the commission’s tenure even if it demanded it by two years and issue a necessary order, including creating a legal provision for protection of the victims.

Committee chairman Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, a retired Supreme Court judge, told the meeting that as of October 31, they had received about 1,600 complaints, investigated 400 complaints and interviewed 140 complainants.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of complaints. Many people still do not come to the committee for fear of reprisals from members of law enforcement agencies. From this we can conclude that the number of incidents is much higher than what has been reported so far. ‘, said a committee member.

The committee member said they suspect the number of enforced disappearances could be at least 3,500, adding that they were working to identify who committed the crimes and who ordered them.

The committee member said many of the victims are in prison, and some even face the death penalty, because they were forced to make confessional statements in court after being arrested.

Some disappearance victims are believed to be languishing in prisons in neighboring India.

Committee members sought government support to protect evidence from secret places where victims hid.

“Many victims told us that they had not seen the sun for years. It was only when breakfast was served that they felt it was a new day,” said a committee member.

The member requested that the government impose a ban on the suspect’s foreign travel and, if possible, revoke his passport.

Advisor Home Affairs Lieutenant General (retired) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, who also attended the meeting, said they would do so immediately once they receive a list of suspects from the committee.

Manfuj Alam, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, stressed the importance of making public the commission’s findings and exposing those who had overseen the incidents of enforced disappearances.

Advisors Salehuddin Ahmed, Nurjahan Begum, Adilur Rahman Khan, M Sakhawat Hussain, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor Lt. Gen. (Retired) Abdul Hafiz, Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid and Chief Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor Md Siraj Uddin Mia among others was present at the meeting.