Families want return of disappeared victims

A girl addresses a rally organised by Mayer Daak, a platform of the families of enforced disappearance victims, in front of the National Press Club in the capital to mark the International Week of the Disappeared, which began on Friday. — Sourav Lasker

Family members of enforced disappearance victims and their sympathisers at a human chain in Dhaka on Saturday urged the government to find the whereabouts of their missing relatives and hold the perpetrator accountable.

Joining the event, organised by Mayer Daak, a platform for the families of victims of enforced disappearance, rights activists also demanded the government set up an independent commission to ensure justice over the crimes against humanity.

The event was organised in front of the National Press Club to mark the International Week of the Disappeared, which began on May 26 and would continue until May 31.

Mothers, sisters, children, spouses, relatives, and sympathisers of victims holding photos, banners, placards, and portraits of missing people vowed to wait for justice and punishment for those responsible for their distress.

At least 623 cases of enforced disappearances took place in Bangladesh between January 2009 and June 2022, according to a report released by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission in September 2022.

Of them, at least 153 people remained missing, bodies of 84 others were found, while 383 victims either returned home or were found imprisoned, refusing to share where they had been.

Three of the victims’ families dropped all contact with the AHRC.

On Saturday, family members of disappeared politicians or activists linked to the ruling Awami League, Bangladesh National Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and leftist political parties also attended the rally and sought the government’s assistance in locating them alive or identifying their remains.

‘Is doing BNP politics a crime? I was picked by RAB and DB, and they tortured me and called my wife to  extort hundreds of thousands of taka. So far, I have been prosecuted eight to 10 cases. What is the problem with me,’ said Mohammad Khurshid Alam Mintu, a brother of Chowdhury Alam, who was the

councillor of ward 56 of the then undivided Dhaka City Corporation when he disappeared on June 25, 2010.

He said, ‘If my brother committed a crime, let him be prosecuted. If he was killed, let us know so we can offer a fist of soil to his grave.’

Khurshid Alam called on the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and international forums to ensure justice over his brother’s disappearance.

Khayrul Alam, the brother of missing Mirpur-based trader Ismail Hossain, said that the disappearance legacy should be stopped to uphold democratic values. Ismail disappeared from Mirpur on June 19, 2019.

Saidul Islam Ripon, son of opposition politician Mafijul Islam Rashed, who disappeared in Mirpur in April 2013, said he had been searching for his father but his whereabouts were still unknown.

In her address, Mayer Daak co-founder Sanjida Islam Tulee, who has been looking for her disappeared politician brother Shajedul Islam Sumon since December 2013, said that they saw the number of disappearances and extrajudicial killings increase before national elections in 2014 and 2018 and feared a recurrence of such incidents ahead of another election in early 2024.

She said they were very aware of who was behind those disappearances and vowed that those people would be booked.

Nur Khan Liton, the executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra, called for the setting up of an independent commission to bring the perpetrators to justice following a ‘credible’ and ‘acceptable’ investigation.

He said that instead of setting up an independent commission, the people in power often ridicule the disappearance incidents.

Farida Akhter, the executive director of UBINIG and organiser of Nayakrishi Andolon, said that they had been receiving allegations of custodial torture. She said that no one would be spared after committing crimes.

Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh general secretary Saiful Haque also demanded an independent commission to prosecute the people behind enforced disappearances.

Rights worker ASM Nasiruddin Elan alleged that disappearance kept happening and that the media hardly knew about those cases. He said trials would be held.

Mahamudur Rahman Manna, Nagorik Oikya’s president, told the protesters that it was high time to unite to seek justice for the crimes committed.