The interim government’s recent announcement of a dedicated commission to investigate the vast numbers of enforced disappearances which had been carried out under the last Awami League government is the first real step towards ending a particularly disturbing practice.
Enforced disappearances are a flagrant violation of human rights and the practice was ostensibly at its absolute highest during the last government’s tenure, despite vehement denial from the AL government. After the government was toppled by the student movement against discrimination, several victims of enforced disappearances had been finally released from clandestine internment facilities, including the now infamous Aynaghor -- completely dismantling years of dismissal and denial regarding their existence.
Bangladesh has long fared poorly when it comes to upholding human rights, with killings and political violence being particularly egregious. Custodial abuse and even death, filing false cases against political opponents and activists, the past 15 years have seen the government violate basic human rights at practically every turn.
However, enforced disappearances are a particularly sinister form of human rights being violated -- not only is it a grave misuse of power against the individuals who have been abducted, such disappearances completely leave their families and loved ones in the dark about their fate.
Alongside the formation of a dedicated commission, Bangladesh has also finally agreed to sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which would hopefully end this incredibly troubling practice from being carried out on our soil once and for all -- to this end, the interim government needs to be pro-active and make space for legal provisions which would prevent any future governments from thinking twice before resorting to such practices.
