The BNP government has retained the death penalty for the crime of enforced disappearance. The Ministry of Home Affairs has prepared a draft law on the issue.
However, while an ordinance promulgated by the interim government assigned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) the responsibility for investigating enforced disappearances, the proposed law assigns that responsibility to the police.
If the police refuse to accept a complaint, anyone acting on behalf of the victim may file a complaint directly before the court of the competent magistrate.
During the tenure of the interim government, the Advisory Council gave in-principle approval on 28 August last year to the draft Prevention, Redress and Protection of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance, 2025.
The draft law has been uploaded to the Ministry of Home Affairs website for stakeholder feedback.
Officials at the ministry said the law will be finalised after incorporating public opinions and then sent to the Cabinet. Amendments may also be made during Cabinet deliberations.
Relevant officials said an inter-ministerial meeting on the draft law is scheduled to be held today, Wednesday, at the Cabinet Division. The proposed law is expected to be placed before the Cabinet shortly and may be passed in the next session of Parliament.
During the tenure of the interim government, the Advisory Council gave in-principle approval on 28 August last year to the draft Prevention, Redress and Protection of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance, 2025.
Final approval was granted on 6 November that year, and the ordinance was promulgated the same day, retaining the death penalty for the offence of enforced disappearance. However, the new law will no longer include the word “Protection” in its title. It will instead be called the Prevention and Redress of Enforced Disappearance Act.
No one other than the police can carry out criminal investigations. That is why the National Human Rights Commission has been removed from this role.
The interim government promulgated a total of 133 ordinances. After securing a landslide victory in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliamentary) election, the BNP formed a special parliamentary committee to review them.
Based on the committee’s recommendations, the government repealed four ordinances and decided to introduce new bills, following further review, in place of 16 others, including the ordinance on enforced disappearances. The government is now moving forward with a new law on the issue.
Among the repealed ordinances was the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, which had assigned the Commission the responsibility for investigating enforced disappearances.
Under the proposed law, the responsibility for investigating enforced disappearance cases will be assigned to the police.
Speaking about this, a Ministry of Home Affairs official told Prothom Alo on Tuesday that, under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), investigations are conducted by the police.
“No one other than the police can carry out criminal investigations. That is why the National Human Rights Commission has been removed from this role,” the official stated.
However, the international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern that this change will fail to ensure accountability in cases of enforced disappearance.
While the interim government’s ordinance prescribed a minimum prison sentence of seven years, the draft law proposes reducing the minimum sentence to five years. The maximum fine remains unchanged at Tk 2 million.
In a recent report, Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at HRW, said assigning investigations to the police would not ensure accountability and would also fail to establish the safeguards necessary to prevent the continued practice of enforced disappearance.
What the proposed law contains
Destroying evidence or tampering with material related to an enforced disappearance will remain a criminal offence. However, the draft law reduces the punishment for this offence.
While the interim government’s ordinance prescribed a minimum prison sentence of seven years, the draft law proposes reducing the minimum sentence to five years. The maximum fine remains unchanged at Tk 2 million.
In addition, anyone who constructs a secret detention facility, including those like so-called Aynaghar (“House of Mirrors”), will face a minimum prison sentence of five years and a fine of up to Tk 2 million.
Under the ordinance, the minimum prison term was seven years but the proposed law reduces the minimum sentence by two years in this case as well.
The draft law, however, continues to recognise enforced disappearance as a distinct and “continuing” criminal offence, as provided in the ordinance.
According to the draft law’s definition, an enforced disappearance occurs when “a public official or any member of a disciplined force (including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Ansar, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Coast Guard, intelligence agencies, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), or any joint force), acting in an official capacity or with government support, arrests, detains or abducts a person and then denies the deprivation of liberty or conceals the person’s whereabouts.”
If an enforced disappearance results in the victim’s death, if the body is recovered, or if the missing person remains untraced for five years after the incident, the offender will face either the death penalty or life imprisonment. In addition, the offender will also be liable to a minimum of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Tk 10 million.