Permanent body to be formed to curb enforced disappearances: law advisor

Law Advisor Asif Nazrul has announced plans to form a permanent commission to ensure that no one falls victim to enforced disappearances by law-enforcing agencies under any future government.

A law to establish the permanent body will be enacted within the next month, he said after a meeting with a UN delegation on enforced disappearances on Monday.

“The next commission will begin where the current disappearance commission leaves off. The UN delegation praised our initiative to form the commission and draft legislation on enforced disappearances. They have expressed willingness to provide full support,” he said.

“Once this law is in place, it will become very risky and difficult for any government to carry out enforced disappearances. Before the one-year anniversary of the July Uprising, we aim to achieve even more.”

When a journalist pointed out that a future government could repeal the proposed law, the advisor said: “BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders themselves have been victims of enforced disappearance. NCP (National Citizen Party) and Islamic parties have also been vocal on this issue. Whoever comes to power, I don't think they will try to reverse such progress.”

The government is also considering whether the law could include a provision for issuing ‘missing certificates" for those who were victims of disappearances in the past, according to him.

After the fall of the Awami League government in the face of a student-led mass uprising last year, the issues of enforced disappearances and so-called "torture chambers" resurfaced prominently.

Shortly after assuming office, the interim government formed a five-strong inquiry commission on enforced disappearances on Aug 27 last year, headed by retired judge Moinul Islam Chowdhury.

The commission submitted its second interim report on Jun 4, which detailed accounts of brutal and inhumane torture. Following multiple extensions, its current term is set to end on Jun 30.