For the first time in Bangladesh’s history, 15 army officers were taken to a civil court yesterday to face trial for their alleged role in enforced disappearances under the Awami League regime and killings during the July uprising.  

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances with the support of the cultural ministry produced a documentary titled “Unfolding the Truth” in which former Rab officers directly implicated Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan.

Survivors of enforced disappearances broke down yesterday as they recalled the torture, humiliation, and threats they endured in secret detention centres.

He was around 15 when he was picked up, a ninth grader.

Evidence of “Aynaghar” was destroyed even after August 5, 2024, to hide the complicity of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), said the commission investigating enforced disappearances in its report to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her defence adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan, and senior police officers Monirul Islam and Md Harun-Or-Rashid were all involved in enforced disappearances.

Families of the victims of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and those martyred and maimed in the July mass uprising yesterday demanded that ousted Sheikh Hasina and her party be brought to book.

Many victims injured in the July uprising, including those who lost their eyes or other body parts, also attended the rally.

But without political reforms, any change risks being superficial

Commission receives 1,600 complaints so far

The inquiry commission on enforced disappearances found eight secret detention centres in Dhaka and its surrounding areas.

Ayesha Ali has been praying every day for over 10 years to see her son.

NHRC Chairman Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed talks about how the commission has dealt with the cases of enforced disappearance.

Five new incidents of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh were reported to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in the last one year.

Government decision to engage in expatriate diplomacy to tackle negative propaganda raises a lot of questions.

At least 92 people became victims of enforced disappearances last year and 23 of them are still missing, says a new human rights report.

Ever since her son went missing four years ago, Shahida Begum, 65, has knocked at every possible door -- local police, Rab, political leaders.

Apart from eyes that fight weariness, each of them has one thing in common: they are all waiting for their husbands -- who had gone missing years ago in a notorious spate of enforced disappearances.

“I am growing old. I am becoming sick… I want to see my son for one last time before I die.” The voice of Saleha Begum, 65, was cracking repeatedly as she sought to know the whereabouts of her son Moazzem Hossain Topu.

Five hundred and forty-four is a horrendous number of people to have gone missing, reportedly, in the last eight years since 2008. Only a few of them have returned; unfortunately 300 of them remain unaccounted for. It is a very sorry state where relatives of victims of such patently criminal acts should find themselves between the devil and the deep sea.