The draft ordinance defines disappearance as an ongoing crime and provides for strict punishment, including the death penalty. Establishing or using secret detention centers has been mentioned as a punishable offence.
Shafiqul Alam, the press secretary to the chief adviser, informed the media of the decision reached at a meeting of the Council of Advisers at a briefing organized at the Foreign Service Academy auditorium in the capital on Thursday afternoon.
At the time, he said that the government has been working on the law on disappearances.
He said that the National Human Rights Commission has been empowered to receive and investigate complaints related to disappearances. The draft ordinance includes provisions for the formation of a tribunal for the prevention, remedy and protection of disappearances and the obligation to try cases within 120 days of the filing of a complaint, protection of victims, informants and witnesses, compensation for victims and ensuring legal assistance. The Council of Advisers has given approval in principle to the draft of the ‘Prevention, Remedy and Protection of Disappearances Ordinance, 2025’. The ordinance will be given final approval after further review. The approval was given at the 40th meeting of the Council of Advisers at the office of the chief adviser in Tejgaon on Thursday. The meeting was presided over by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Shafiqul Alam said: “Based on the opinion of the Commission on Disappearances, the draft of the ‘Prevention, Remedy and Protection of Disappearances Ordinance, 2025’ was revised after considering the opinions received from Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Blast, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, and after reviewing the opinions and suggestions received from two exchange meetings by the Law and Justice Department.”
He also said that the government is working on a law to ensure that there are no more disappearances in Bangladesh.
3 land ports declared closed
The government has decided to declare the closure of three land ports of the country and temporarily suspend the operational activities of one port. This decision was taken at the 40th meeting of the Council of Advisers. This information was given by Shafiqul Alam.
The three land ports that have been declared closed are Chilahati Land Port in Nilphamari, Daulatganj Land Port in Chuadanga and Tegamukh Land Port in Rangamati. On the other hand, the decision to suspend the operational activities of Balla Land Port in Chunarughat Upazila of Habiganj district has been approved.
“This three-land port has been declared closed. The proposal to suspend the operational activities of Balla Land Port has been approved. No work is being done at these land ports. There are four more, which will be discussed later, said the press secretary.
Earlier, on March 2, a press release from the Ministry of Shipping said that three unprofitable and inactive land ports were completely closed, and one land port was recommended to be closed for operational activities. The Ministry of Shipping’s verification committee on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of eight land ports of the Bangladesh Land Ports Authority made this recommendation.
In addition, the press secretary said that the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has approved the proposal to celebrate Lalon Sai’s Tirodhan day every year on October 17 as an “A” category day. Earlier, the birth and death anniversaries of poets Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore were “A” category days.
Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder and Senior Assistant Press Secretary Faiz Ahmed and others were present at the briefing.