Enforced disappearances: Yunus pledges full support to probe body

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus today guaranteed his full support to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and hoped that it could ensure justice for victims of abduction that ocured during the Awami League regime.

“We will provide all kinds of support you need,” the chief adviser told the commission members during a meeting, attended by several advisers and key officials at the state guest house Jamuna.

The commission members said they would give the government an interim report by mid-December.

Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said the government is ready to extend the tenure of the commission even by two years if needed and issue necessary directives, including creating a legal provision for protecting victims.

Commission Chairman Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, a retired High Court judge, told the meeting that they received some 1,600 complaints as of October 31, scrutinised 400 complaints, and interviewed 140 complainants.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of complaints. Many people are still not coming to the commission fearing retaliation from members of law enforcement agencies. From this, we can understand that the number of incidents is much higher than reported so far,” said a commission member.

The victims of enforced disappearances could be at least 3,500, he said, adding that they were working on identifying the perpetrators of the crimes and who ordered them.

The commission member said that many of the victims are in jail, some even facing death sentences, as they were forced to give confessional statements before the court after they were shown arrested.

Some disappearance victims are believed to be languishing in jails in India, he added.

During the meeting, commission members sought the government’s support in protecting the evidence found in secret places where victims were kept.

“Many victims told us that they did not see the sun for years. They could sense that it was a new day only when breakfast was served,” said a commission member.

The member requested the government impose an injunction on foreign trips of the accused individual and, if possible, cancel their passports.

Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, who also attended the meeting, said they would do it once they were provided with a list of accused by the commission.

Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to the chief adviser, emphasised the importance of putting the findings of the commission in the public domain and exposing the individuals who supervised the incidents of enforced disappearances.

Advisers Salehuddin Ahmed, Nurjahan Begum, Adilur Rahman Khan, M Sakhawat Hussain, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Hafiz, Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid, and CA’s Principal Secretary Md Siraj Uddin Mia were present at the meeting, among others.