Enforced disappearances under Awami League rule: At least 251 still missing

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has confirmed 1,569 cases of enforced disappearances during the over 15 years' rule of the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) before they were ousted in a mass uprising in 2024.

At least 251 of these individuals still remain missing and they are being presumed dead. In addition, the bodies of 36 people were recovered after a certain period following their disappearance. Many of these individuals were reportedly victims of so-called ‘crossfire’ or were found shot in rivers.

According to the commission, the ongoing cases of missing persons and recovered bodies indicate that at least 287 deaths are directly linked to incidents of enforced disappearance, based on the limited number of complaints formally submitted to the commission.

These findings appear in the commission’s final report, which was submitted yesterday (Sunday) to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the state guesthouse, Jamuna.

Commission chair Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, along with members Justice Md Farid Ahmed Shibly, Nur Khan Liton, Nabila Idris, and Sazzad Hossain, was present there at the time.

The commission stated that a total of 1,913 complaints were submitted to it. After verification, 1,569 complaints were categorised as enforced disappearances, of which 287 fell into the ‘missing and dead’ category.

The commission further noted that 113 complaints, upon investigation, did not fall within the legal definition of enforced disappearance. In some cases, the alleged perpetrators were not law enforcement personnel. In others, the detention was a lawful arrest where the custody period lasting less than 24 hours.

However, the commission believes that the total number of enforced disappearances is likely much higher than the complaints received. In its final report, the commission suggested that the 1,569 verified complaints probably represent only one-third to a quarter of the actual incidents. Based on extrapolation, the estimated total number of enforced disappearances may range between 4,000 and 6,000.

The report notes that various intelligence agencies, including Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police, and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), were implicated in these cases.

Analysis by year and agency showed that approximately one-quarter of the complaints mentioned the involvement of RAB.

The final report also details the political affiliation of those disappeared. The commission emphasised that understanding political identity is crucial to explaining these incidents. Political affiliation indicates not only who was at risk but also the deliberate targeting and repression of certain groups.

Among the disappeared, 96.7 per cent (948 individuals) had a political affiliation. Apart from them only a small number were associated with the ruling party.

According to the report, among the victims of enforced disappearance 476 were from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (50.2 per cent), 236 from Islami Chhatra Shibir (24.9 per cent), 142 from Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP (15 per cent), 46 from Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (4.9 per cent), and 17 from Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal (1.8 per cent).

The commission stated that this pattern shows the disappearances and related abuses were not politically neutral. Individuals linked to opposition politics were disproportionately targeted. The predominance of victims from Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Chhatra Shibir, and BNP suggests that this was not arbitrary, rather specific political ideologies were deliberately targeted.

A large proportion of victims were members of student and youth organisations, indicating that politically active young people were particularly at risk. This statistics corresponds with periods of political conflict, anti-terror operations, and repression of opposition parties.

Among those missing whose political identities are confirmed, around 68 per cent were leaders or members of BNP and its affiliate organisations. Meanwhile, approximately 22 per cent of them were from Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir, the commission stated in its report.

Gender analysis of the commission’s report shows that of the 1,546 victims, 1,523 were men (98.5 per cent) and 23 were women (1.5 per cent). This figure indicates that men were primarily targeted, likely due to their political activity, security risk, or socially defined roles.

However, the low number of women may underrepresent reality, as families often reported intense social stigma, fear, and pressure in cases of female disappearance. Many women refused to lodge complaints directly. Despite the small number, the presence of female victims is significant and warrants close attention due to their particular vulnerability, says the commission.

In seeking answer to the question of how many enforced disappearances occurred in which year, the commission’s analysis has come up with a clear picture.

It shows that these incidents were not isolated or the result of immediate law-and-order situation, rather they were part of a continuous process closely linked to political pressure, elections, security crises, and institutional changes.

According to the commission’s data, 10 disappearances occurred in 2009, 34 in 2010, 47 in 2011, 61 in 2012, 128 in 2013, 95 in 2014, 141 in 2015, 215 in 2016, 194 in 2017, 192 in 2018, 118 in 2019, 51 in 2020, 95 in 2021, 110 in 2022, 65 in 2023, and 47 in 2024.

The commission notes that the number of enforced disappearances gradually began to rise when the Awami League government came to power in 2009. After 2012, this increase became more pronounced and remained high through the middle of the decade. Then a slight decline in numbers is observed after 2018.

The commission has cautioned that these year-by-year figures should not be taken as definitive historical records. In particular, data from before 2012 may significantly underrepresent the actual number of incidents, as many victims who later returned had not filed complaints with the commission at the time due to fear and psychological trauma.

The commission’s report highlights that there was a sharp spike in enforced disappearances in 2013, which corresponds with unrest surrounding the national election of January 2014. A similar pattern is observed around the 2018 election. Even in 2022, when there was no national election, the number of disappearances rose again during street protests and clashes.