Two members of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) have arrived in Dhaka for a four-day visit — the first-ever visit by the group to Bangladesh. A diplomatic source in Dhaka confirmed on Sunday (June 15) that Vice-Chair Grażyna Baranowska and Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez of the UN Working Group have arrived in the capital.
During their stay, the delegates are scheduled to meet with Dr. Asif Nazrul, the Acting Foreign Secretary; members of the Commission on Enforced Disappearances; law enforcement agencies; and families of the victims of enforced disappearances. The official visit will conclude on June 18.
Following the fall of the Awami League government during the July mass uprising, the interim government, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Bangladesh signed the treaty just a day before the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
According to the latest data published by WGEID, 70 cases of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh remain unresolved. The UN has sought information on the status of 88 individuals. Of them, five are reportedly in detention, and ten have been found alive.