Enforced disappearances: Inquiry commission yet to start work

The inquiry commission formed to look into the enforced disappearances carried out by members of the law enforcement forces and agencies has not been able to start functioning as yet.

No office has been prepared for the commission as yet, and the members are unable to hold meetings.

On 27 August the government formed this commission headed by a retired judge of the High Court Division.

Sources say that the cabinet division on Thursday began official communications with the commission members regarding secretarial assistance in their work.

The circular published in this regard has given the commission 45 working days to submit their inquiry report to the government.

Sources in the cabinet division say that an office is being prepared for the commission. The process is also on to provide it with the necessary workforce.

Speaking to Prothom Alo yesterday, Friday, the cabinet division secretary (coordination and reforms) Mahmudul Hossain Khan said an office of the Public Works Department is being set up for the commission in Gulshan.  Hopefully it will be ready by Saturday. Efforts are being made so that the commission can hold it first meeting tomorrow, Sunday.

Headed by retired justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury, the other members of the commission are retired additional justice of the High Court Division, Md Farid Ahmed Shibli, human rights activist Nur Khan, BRAC University teacher Nabila Idris and human rights activist Sajjad Hossain.

The circular in this regard said that this inquiry commission has been formed to trace any persons who were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by the police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Special Branch, Detective Branch, Ansar Battalion, the National Security Intelligence (NSI), the defence forces, the Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the Coast Guard, and other law enforcement agencies.
Discussions have arisen about making the commission's tasks and terms of reference more specific and extensive.

Concerned persons say that tracing the missing persons is basically the task of the law enforcement agencies. The basic task of this commission should be to probe into the planning of these enforced disappearances and to identify those who ordered and were involved in these enforced disappearances.

When the attention of the commission was drawn to this matter, several members told Prothom Alo the matter will be discussed at the commission's meeting. They want to expand their scope of work and look into the overall picture of enforced disappearance and identify those who pulled the strings behind the scenes.

Innumerable people were subject to enforced disappearance during the 15 years of Sheikh Hasina's government rule. The bodies of the missing persons would pop up or some returned alive after spending long spans of time in secret detention cells. Some remain missing.

Sheikh Hasina's government was toppled on 5 August through a student-people's uprising. The next day, on 6 August, the persons who were released after almost eight years from these secret prisons included Brig Gen (dismissed) Abdullah Hil Aman Azmi, Supreme Court lawyer Ahmed Bib Kasem (Arman) and Chittagong Hill Tracts organisation United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) leader Michael Chakma.

Local and international human rights organisations have long been demanding a neutral inquiry committee to look into these enforced disappearances. Sheikh Hasina's government paid no heed to these demands. Quite to the contrary, ministers and other persons of the government would make sarcastic remarks about the missing persons.

The families of the victims of enforced disappearance did not receive justice. The interim government, after taking over, formed an independent inquiry commission. On 30 August Bangladesh signed the international convention against enforced disappearances.

On the occasion of one month since the student-people's uprising toppled the Awami League government, chief advisor of the interim government issued a message on Thursday, in which he pledged to end the culture of enforced disappearance. He said that all the secret prisons have been closed too.