The Cabinet has given its final approval to the draft Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Act 2026, proposing the death penalty as the maximum punishment for enforced disappearance.
The decision was disclosed in a press release issued after a Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat on Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
Under the draft law, the death penalty or life imprisonment and a maximum fine of Tk1 crore may be imposed if an enforced disappearance results in death, if the body is recovered, or if the person remains untraced after five years.
The law defines enforced disappearance as a distinct, cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable criminal offence “with the aim of establishing human rights, human dignity, individual freedom and the rule of law”.
It provides for investigations to be completed within 120 days and trials within another 120 days. The law aims to prevent enforced disappearances, prosecute those responsible, locate missing persons and ensure compensation and rehabilitation for victims and their families.
Soon after Muhammad Yunus’s interim government assumed office, a five-member commission on enforced disappearances was formed on 27 August 2024 under retired High Court Division judge Moinul Islam Chowdhury. The commission examined cases allegedly committed by law enforcement agencies between 6 January 2009 and 5 August 2024.
In January 2026, the commission submitted its final report to the chief adviser, confirming 1,569 cases of enforced disappearance and saying the incidents were largely politically motivated.
As existing laws had no clear definition of enforced disappearance, the interim government issued the Enforced Disappearance Prevention, Redress and Protection Ordinance 2025. The ordinance later expired after the BNP-led government, formed through the February 2026 general election, did not enact it as a law.
The BNP government faced criticism over the issue and later said it would introduce a new law after further review.
Under the new draft, police have been assigned responsibility for investigating enforced disappearance cases instead of the National Human Rights Commission.
The draft includes provisions for court-issued search warrants, trials in the absence of accused persons, acceptance of digital evidence, and protection of witnesses, complainants, whistleblowers and victims.
It also recognises victims’ rights to receive updates on investigations, details of incidents and information about the whereabouts or fate of disappeared persons.
The draft proposes legal assistance, medical care, rehabilitation and a compensation fund for victims. Compensation may be recovered from convicted persons’ property or paid by the state if necessary.
It also includes provisions for using an accused person’s property to support the wife and dependent family members of a disappeared person, issuing disappearance certificates for property distribution among heirs after five years, maintaining a central database and facilitating international cooperation.
Other decisions
The Cabinet also approved the draft The Transfer of Property (Amendment) Act 2026, introducing provisions allowing donors to retain lifetime usufruct rights after gifting property.
The amendment aims to provide legal protection to parents or grandparents who transfer property to children or grandchildren while retaining the right to use it during their lifetime.
The Cabinet also approved updating the Essential Medicines List 2026 and cancelling the Medicine Pricing Methodology 2026. It decided that medicine prices should be set in a way that protects consumers while maintaining healthy market competition.
