5-member commission formed to detect victims of forced disappearance

The government has formed a five-member commission to find out forcibly disappeared people by the law enforcement agencies from 1 January 2010 to 5 August 2024.

Retired judges of the High Court Division justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and justice Farid Ahmed Shibli have been made president and member of the commission.

Other members of the commission are:  human rights activist Noor Khan, BRAC University teacher Nabila Idris and human rights activist Sazzad Hossain.

The commission has been given 45 working days to submit the investigation report to the government.

The cabinet division Tuesday issued a gazette in this regard.

As per the gazette, which comes into effect immediately, the president of the commission will get the status and other benefits of a justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and its members will get the status and other benefits of a justice of the High Court Division.

The cabinet division will give the commission secretarial assistance and bear its expenses alongside assigning any public servant to help the commission.

The government formed the commission under section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956.  

The commission has been entrusted to find out the persons who were forcibly disappeared by different law enforcement agencies including the police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Branch (SB), Detective Branch (DB), Ansar Battalion, National Security Intelligence (NSI), defence forces, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and Coast Guard.

It has also been entrusted to unearth the whereabouts of the forcibly disappeared persons, their identities and on which condition they were disappeared alongside submitting the report with the details of the incidents of forced disappearances and recommendations to the respective authorities.

The commission will inform the relatives of the forcibly disappeared people after detecting their whereabouts.

It will also collect information regarding investigations of other agencies and organisations on the forcibly disappeared people.