Disappearances Dossier Deserves Global Dissemination: Dr. Yunus
Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus has called for the publication of reports on enforced disappearances both on a website and in book form, highlighting global interest in the issue. He expressed his view upon receiving the second interim report from the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Wednesday, June 4.
"The report on enforced disappearances must be published both online and as a book," Dr. Yunus remarked. "There is significant interest not only within Bangladesh but also globally."
According to the Press Wing, members of the commission, led by its Chairman Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, submitted the report to the Chief Adviser at the State Guest House Jamuna. Commission members Nur Khan, Sazzad Hossain, and Nabila Idris were also present during the submission.
Others in attendance included Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, and the Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary Siraj Uddin Mia.
During the meeting, the commission informed the Chief Adviser that over 300 individuals who were subjected to enforced disappearances remain missing. The commission has received 1,850 complaints to date and has completed investigations into 1,350 of them. The total number of complaints may exceed 3,500.
Justice Chowdhury requested that steps be taken to allow families of the disappeared to carry out basic transactions such as banking. He also noted that current law allows a person missing for seven years to be presumed dead and recommended amending the law to reduce that period to five years.
The Chief Adviser urged the commission to provide specific recommendations so that prompt action could be taken. “What horrifying stories!” he said. “The so-called ‘gentlemen’ of our society, our very own relatives, committed these acts. Based on your findings, a horror museum should be established. The chilling accounts of confinement—being held for months in a three-foot by three-foot cell—must be presented to the public to convey the extent of this brutality.”
The Press Wing also noted that one commission member informed the Chief Adviser that the cases were so disturbing that some of the involved officers and individuals have reached out to the commission, driven by remorse and a desire for redemption. Two officers even wrote letters seeking release from their mental anguish.
