The government has initiated judicial trials into all past incidents of enforced disappearance and tabled two crucial bills in Parliament to permanently eradicate the practice, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said on Saturday.
In an official message issued on the eve of International Day of the Disappeared Tarique expressed profound sympathy and solidarity with all victims of enforced disappearance and their waiting families, both in Bangladesh and across the world.
He pointed out that the “Disappearance Prevention and Redress Bill, 2026” and the “National Human Rights Commission Bill, 2026” have already been placed before the Jatiya Sangsad.
The government expects that the formal enactment of these bills will act as a permanent deterrent against the crime of state-sponsored abduction.
Condemning the record of the ousted administration, Tarique said the fallen, defeated, and fugitive fascist government had systematically used enforced disappearances and abductions to suppress the democratic and political rights of citizens.
He highlighted the establishment of secret detention facilities, widely known to the public as “Aynaghar,” where victims were held incommunicado for months or even years.
According to estimates compiled by local and international human rights organisations, the ousted administration used state law enforcement agencies to make at least 700 people disappear at various times.
Describing the figure as deeply heart-wrenching, Tarique reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring justice and accountability.
While some victims have returned home following the fall of the regime during the 2024 student-led mass uprising, Tarique pointed out that the whereabouts of countless others—including prominent figures like opposition leader Ilias Ali and Chowdhury Alam—remain unknown.
Tarique observed that these inhumane acts are global violations of human rights that primarily occur under autocratic systems and in politically conflicted regions, where state security forces or law enforcement agencies target anti-government movements and dissident political leaders.
To illustrate the human cost, Tarique remarked that a disappearance is not merely a statistic or the loss of a single person.
“Rather, it represents the death of a family’s dreams, hopes, and aspirations,” he said, describing the agonising limbo faced by relatives who are denied any sense of closure or the opportunity to mourn normally.
He further referenced Article 7(2) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which explicitly defines enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity and demands exemplary justice.
Observed worldwide to awaken the global conscience against state-sponsored disappearances, this year’s International Day of the Disappeared is being marked under the theme “Victims First, Actions Now.”
Tarique concluded his message by calling for global unity and solidarity to ensure that all individuals and institutions complicit in these human rights abuses are tried and held accountable.
