Memorandum placed before speaker seeking independent probes into enforced disappearances, 13 other demands

Highlights:

• The memorandum seeks accountability for officials behind secret detention
• Demands whereabouts of all missing persons established
• Urges protection, treatment and compensation for victims

The National Committee for Observing the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances has submitted a memorandum to the Speaker of parliament with 14 demands, including establishing an independent investigation mechanism and enacting an international-standard law to ensure justice and accountability for enforced disappearances.

Leaders and activists of the 11-party alliance were also present during the submission.

The memorandum was handed over today (30 August) following a procession and sit-in marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

The procession began at Banglamotor intersection at around 3:40pm and ended with a sit-in in front of the Parliament complex.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar, Assistant Secretary General AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad, former BNP leader Major (retd) Akhtaruzzaman, who has joined Jamaat, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmed and Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JAGPA) Vice-President Rashed Pradhan, among others, took part in the procession.

Several people who were victims of enforced disappearance during the previous Awami League government also participated.

The committee called for the immediate enactment of a strong, victim-friendly law consistent with the Constitution and international human rights standards to prevent and provide remedies for enforced disappearances.

It demanded that provisions in the 2025 Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Remedy Ordinance that provided greater protection, remedies and independent investigations for victims be retained and strengthened in the new law.

The committee also opposed giving any single police, Rapid Action Battalion, intelligence or security agency authority to investigate allegations of enforced disappearance, particularly when the allegations concern members of the same agency.

It called for the formation of a fully independent investigation commission, free from the control of law enforcement agencies and equipped with effective investigative powers.

The committee demanded a specific deadline for implementing the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and said those responsible should not receive immunity based on their political affiliation, rank or position of state power.

It also called for all cases of enforced disappearance over the past 15 years to be reviewed and for the whereabouts of every missing person to be established. If victims are alive, the state should recover them, while families of those confirmed dead should be informed of the truth and helped to locate and respectfully bury their remains, it said.

The committee demanded a full investigation into all secret detention centres, including "Aynaghar", preservation of evidence and accountability for the officials and individuals who ordered or were involved in operating such facilities.

It also called for security, protection for testimony, medical treatment, rehabilitation and compensation for survivors of enforced disappearance, as well as the right to truth, compensation, rehabilitation and state support for their families.

The committee specifically demanded immediate implementation of a High Court directive concerning Miraj Sheikh to establish his whereabouts and ensure his safety, along with an independent and impartial investigation into those involved in the case.

It also called for the proposed law to clearly establish command responsibility, preventing senior officials from avoiding accountability by claiming they were not directly present during an incident.

The committee urged authorities to hold meaningful and transparent consultations with victims' families, human rights organisations, lawyers, civil society representatives and experts before passing the law.

It further demanded a clear legal framework for determining whether enforced disappearance cases constitute "widespread or systematic" crimes or crimes against humanity, including procedures for transferring such cases to the International Crimes Tribunal while preserving the continuity of investigations, evidence and prosecution.

The final demand called for the law to cover enforced disappearances, abductions, unlawful detention and secret detention committed not only by law enforcement and security personnel but also by individuals, organised criminal groups, political organisations or other non-state actors.

It also called for an effective mechanism to review criminal cases filed between 2009 and 2024 in connection with allegations of enforced disappearance where the cases may have been abused or politically motivated, so that the new law cannot become a tool of persecution.