3/7/2025–|Last update: 05:31 (Mecca time)
Human Rights Watch said that the interim government in Bangladesh has taken some positive steps to address what it described as the “terrible inheritance” for enforced concealment crimes, and confirmed that it had received more than 1,850 complaints on the matter.
The organization recorded that Bangladesh is still awaiting “more difficult and more important steps that should be taken”, according to new recommendations issued by United Nations human rights experts.
“Rights Watch” considered that the anti -terrorism law in Bangladesh has long been used against journalists, human rights defenders and critics of previous governments.
The organization pointed out that the interim government in Bangladesh faces “great challenges and has a limited time”, and stressed that the treatment of the legacy of enforced disappearance is effectively imposed on the authorities to abide by “the recommendations of United Nations experts and to proceed urgently in reforming the judiciary and the security sector in addition to pursuing the perpetrators appropriately.”
The UN experts warned of what they called attempts to “intimidate” the members of the committee and the families of the victims, as well as attempts to destroy the evidence and obstruct the investigations, and indicated that some survivors are still being harassed through unfair criminal charges, especially under the anti -terrorism law.
Experts also stressed the necessity of prosecuting the suspects, expressing at the same time their concern about the fair trial standards and the possibility of using the death penalty, and considered that the proposed law to address the cases of enforced disappearance raises fears and requires more consultations.
The United Nations experts concerned with enforced disappearances listened to “painful accounts of torture from the survivors of enforced concealment,” and they met relatives of victims who are still missing, and concluded that “the victims feel very afraid of reporting cases.”
Experts attributed the fear of reporting cases of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh that many of the alleged violations perpetrators “still occupy their jobs in the police and army,” and stressed the need to establish a system to protect victims and witnesses and a comprehensive reform of the security sector.
The transitional government has approved the International Convention to protect all people from enforced disappearance, and established an investigation committee that presented two phased reports, received more than 1,850 complaints, and its mandates until December 2025.