Human rights groups and opposition parties have long been accusing the ruling party leaders and senior officials of enforced disappearance by law enforcers while reaching out to the international community demanding action against the government and the security forces.
They allege that the government is using the state machinery, particularly police in plain clothes, to kidnap hundreds of opposition activists, torture them in secret detention centres, and conceal dead bodies as part of a so-called scheme to eliminate political rivals.
Families claim that they get little or no support from the law enforcement agencies regarding the whereabouts of the missing persons. On the other hand, police officials say they investigate every such incident and take due action whenever a member of any law enforcement agency is found involved in any wrongdoing.
Ruling party high-ups have always brushed aside such allegations as propaganda hatched by their political opponents, who are envious of development activities, to tarnish the image of the government at home and abroad.
The prime minister on Sunday demanded a scrutiny of such allegations.
Several ministers in the ruling Awami League government have recently commented that allegations of enforced disappearance against the law enforcement agencies are exaggerated.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneAs a counter-campaign, the government recently decided to highlight the incidents of political violence and killings perpetrated by the BNP-Jamaat to eliminate the Awami League.
A senior minister told Dhaka Tribune that the government would expose the BNP's human rights violations before the world community, including the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
In Bangladesh, allegations of disappearances of individuals are brought against the law enforcers in the cases of the reported detention of people linked to opposition parties or outlawed militant groups.
In most cases, families blame the members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Detective Branch (DB) of police, claiming that people involved in the detentions or abductions were seen wearing the jackets of these two agencies. Another common allegation is that the families of those detained or abducted fail to get any update on their dear ones from the law enforcers.
A group of families of missing persons, known as “Mayer Daak”, has been working to bring the law enforcers involved in the alleged incidents of enforced disappearance since 2009 to justice.
On the other hand, another social organization named “Mayer Kanna” has been campaigning demanding the posthumous trial of military rulers for the incidents of disappearance and secret executions of personnel of the armed forces and opposition activists from 1975-1990.
How serious is it?
The matter came to the fore again as the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances began its 128th session on Monday and is set to review 696 cases from 21 countries, including some from Bangladesh.
The group of five independent experts will review the allegations concerning acts tantamount to enforced disappearances perpetrated by non-state actors and document the cases.
Enforced disappearances have become a global problem and are not restricted to a specific region of the world, says the UN.
The Bangladesh government maintains that in collaboration with vested quarters, the political opposition is conspiring to hinder its march towards establishing a democratic society and breaking out of the culture of immunity in a country ruled by military governments for nearly two decades.
During her UK visit, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was asked about the allegations of enforced disappearances against her administration by the BBC in an interview aired on Sunday.
“Many people can place allegations. But you have to judge how far it is true. Before that, no one should make any comment,” she replied and questioned the prevalence of such incidents in the West.
“How many people disappeared in your country and other countries? ….You can't judge. In all these issues, I think all information needs to be collected first and then they can accuse (someone),” she said.
Foreign Minister AK Momen recently told a visiting UN official that some people who work for money were complaining to the United Nations as Bangladesh is making progress.
Momen said he did not hear about any such incident in recent days. Instead, the army and the law enforcers were involved during the rule of the BNP-Jamaat government from 2001-06.
In 2006, the London-based rights group Amnesty International reported that the country had been pushed to the edge of a human rights crisis due to police abuses, “Operation Clean Heart” by the military, political violence, and militant activities. The situation was a result of a lack of appropriate action by the authorities.
Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on several former and current officials of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), alleging gross violation of human rights on their part. The AL government says that the US had made the decision based on unreliable data.
On August 30, the US, in a statement issued on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, said it stood in solidarity with victims of enforced disappearances and their families around the world.
The US embassy in Dhaka reiterated UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's call for greater scrutiny of allegations of enforced disappearances.
Citizen platform Mayer Dak arranged a protest program in Dhaka with the families of the alleged victims of enforced disappearances on Saturday, January 15, 2022 Dhaka TribuneWhy and how do people go missing?
According to researchers, supporters of opposition parties usually go into hiding to evade arrest. They also leave the country illegally by crossing the border, for which the law enforcers fail to get the latest updates on their whereabouts.
People also leave their houses out of frustration triggered by family conflicts, bad academic records and romantic relationships – a common trend seen both in urban and rural settings for centuries.
But at the same time, incidents of illegal detentions or kidnapping by local criminals posing as RAB and DB members – only for ransom – have also risen sharply, according to media reports.
An exaggeration?
The RAB has been in hot water since its inception in 2004 as an elite force tasked to deal with serious crimes like terrorism, militancy, smuggling and anything that puts the government in a tight spot.
The force faced severe criticism after some of its officers and members were found involved in the abduction and murder of seven people, including a ward councillor in Narayanganj, in 2014. Twenty-six people, including the then commander of RAB-11, have been given death penalty in the sensational case.
According to observers, the human rights groups that highlight the issue of enforced disappearances as a matter of grave concern usually take into account incidents reported since 2009, when the Awami League returned to power after eight years.
Political rivalry and countermeasures
Ruling party leaders allege that rights defenders are targeting the present government but keeping quiet about the state-sponsored crimes that took place during the military regimes of General Ziaur Rahman and General HM Ershad.
The families of the persons detained or executed in secret trials still do not know about the fate of their dear ones.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud alleged that several rights groups, including Odhikar and Human Rights Watch, were providing fabricated and false information to the UN and other international watchdogs.
“Odhikar is such an organization that provided false pictures and a false list of dead Hefazat-e-Islam activists and supporters after the incidents of Shapla Chattar on May 5, 2013. So, preparing a report based on the information given by such an organization (Odhikar) will also be fabricated,” he told Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.
A joint general secretary of the ruling party, Dr Hasan said BNP founder General Ziaur Rahman had killed thousands of leaders and activists of the Awami League. “He signed the orders of the execution of officers and soldiers of the army and air force while having breakfast.”
“His wife Khaleda Zia also did the same -- killed and tortured thousands of leaders and activists of the Awami League. Our political events were bombed…[then prime minister] Khaleda Zia did not allow the August 21 grenade attack incident to be discussed in parliament.
“We are preparing the documentation of all these human rights violations for placing it before the world,” he said.
