Bangladesh forms commission to trace and identify victims of forced disappearance during Hasina's rule

Dhaka: Bangladesh's interim government on Tuesday formed a commission to trace and identify victims of forced disappearance during deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s nearly 16-year regime, an official notification said.

According to the notification, the five-member commission has been entrusted with the task of tracing and identifying the missing people and investigating the circumstances under which they were forcibly disappeared by various intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

The commission comprised two retired High Court judges, two rights activists and a university teacher. The commission has been asked to investigate the cases of forced disappearance between January 1, 2010, and August 5, 2024, when Hasina’s regime was ousted in a student-people mass upsurge.

"In line with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1965, the Commission will submit its report to the government in the next 45 working days,” the Cabinet Division notification read.

According to the notification, the police's Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch, Intelligence Branch and elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion, paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh and Coast Guard, para-police Ansar Battalion, defence forces, National Security Intelligence and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and defence forces would come under the purview of the investigations for their alleged role in the cases of forced disappearance.

Human Rights Watch referring to Bangladesh's rights groups alleged that the country’s security forces have committed over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009.

"While some people were later released, produced in court, or said to have died during an armed exchange with security forces, nearly 100 people remain missing,” the watchdog said.