A child clutching a photograph of a missing father, a weeping wife standing before a fractured wall, a child resting a hand on their father’s bed, and relatives desperately reading the final letters of their loved ones.
These raw, deeply personal depictions of grief lined the walls of the National Museum, capturing the profound, unending anguish of families gathered on Saturday to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Beside the exhibition, the heavy human toll of these disappearances was laid bare at a panel discussion titled “To Make the Disappeared Appear: Law, Justice, Accountability and Human Rights.”
The event brought together government representatives, lawyers, activists, and Parliamentarians who had themselves survived the harrowing cruelty of being disappeared.
Death penalty and financial relief
Addressing the gathering, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed – himself a former victim of disappearance – expressed his deep desire for a robust anti-disappearance law to ensure no other family in Bangladesh ever has to suffer this trauma.
Salahuddin announced that the government has passed and tabled the “Prevention and Redress of Enforced Disappearance Act 2024” ordinance in Parliament, which defines the crime and prescribes the death penalty as the maximum punishment.
Crucially for the survival of left-behind families who are often cast into financial ruin, the home minister explained that the draft law includes measures to allow heirs to inherit property to run their households if a disappeared person is not found within a specific timeframe, alongside compensation from either the state or the victim’s side.
Salahuddin also noted that efforts are underway to rebuild the morale of a “fragile” force inherited by the administration, and a bill to formally abolish the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has been introduced and will take effect shortly.
Human rights activist Nur Khan Liton urged that these families receive official recognition, smooth asset transfer mechanisms, and direct financial support to cope with their devastating loss.
Victims reject self-investigation
Yet, for many survivors, the struggle is not just for survival, but for a transparent path to the truth.
BNP lawmaker Humaam Quader Chowdhury, who was also a victim of enforced disappearance, recalled the terrifying years when victims’ families had to gather outside the National Museum under constant threat of violent attacks by Awami League-Chhatra League forces.
Commenting on the new draft law, Chowdhury insisted that a disciplined force accused of a crime must never be permitted to investigate itself, explaining that the anti-disappearance law and the National Human Rights Commission Act are deeply interconnected.
This sentiment was shared with deep concern by Barrister Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman, MP, who was disappeared for a prolonged period.
Arman strongly objected to Sections 14, 19, and 21 of the proposed bill, arguing that allowing one section of a force to investigate another section of the same force is fundamentally flawed.
He called for a completely independent and neutral inquiry commission and demanded the deletion of Section 21 – which penalises false allegations – warning it would terrorise grieving families and deter them from filing complaints.
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Sara Hossain warned that true justice remains an illusion without independent, neutral investigations.
She noted that there is currently no legal framework for independent inquiries when allegations are levelled against the army, police, or other disciplined forces, calling the standing committee’s review the final opportunity for amendments.
Demands for independent inquiry
The ongoing anguish was personified by the case of Miraj Shekh, who went missing in Mongla, Bagerhat. While the Home Minister suggested his disappearance might stem from inter-force or robber conflicts rather than politics, he maintained the government is ready for an independent inquiry.
However, Nur Khan Liton revealed that during his visit to the site of Shekh’s disappearance ten days ago, eyewitness testimonies and digital evidence pointed clearly to the culprits.
Liton condemned the Coast Guard’s public statement, which he argued shamefully implied that demanding the missing man’s whereabouts was itself an offence.
Liton cited the Narayanganj seven-murder case to prove that civilian and independent bodies can successfully uncover the truth.
He demanded that investigations into disappearances be handed over to the Human Rights Commission or an independent entity like the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
As the executive editor of Netra News, Nazmul Ahsan, concluded, while there is a shared social and political consensus to end these crimes against humanity, the real battle lies in establishing true legal accountability to ensure the disappeared are never forgotten.
