The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CED) submitted its second interim report to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
According to Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, head of the commission tasked with investigating enforced disappearances during Sheikh Hasina’s previous government, over 300 victims remain missing.
So far, the commission has reviewed 1,350 out of 1,850 complaints received.
The commission submitted its second-phase report to the chief adviser on Wednesday at state guesthouse Jamuna. Present at the meeting were commission members Nur Khan, Sazzad Hossain, and Nabila Idris, along with Housing Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, and the Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary Sirajuddin Mia.
A commission member told the chief adviser, “The incidents are so horrific that many involved officials and others are haunted by remorse. Some reach out to us seeking redemption. Two officers even wrote letters pleading for relief—these were later found at Ganabhaban. The then-army chief publicly acknowledged these letters.”
After receiving the report, Yunus said that the findings of the report should be published, both online and in book form, with there being significant interest, both domestically and internationally regarding the matter.
He added, “How horrifying to think that our own so-called ‘bhodrolok’, our own relatives, were behind these acts. Based on the findings, there should be a horror museum—these are spine-chilling accounts.”
He added that people need to see what the cells they were confined to look like, to know the brutality with which the victims were treated, confined as they were to these tiny 3×3 foot prisons for months at a time.
He instructed the commission to identify immediate action points and specify which ministries should handle them so the government can begin implementation swiftly.
The commission chief also urged the chief adviser to facilitate banking access for the families of those still missing.
Under current law, a person missing for seven years can be declared dead. The commission recommended reducing this period to five years through legal amendments.