Thousands of forced disappearances under Hasina rule in Bangladesh: Inquiry

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances finds that out of 1,569 confirmed cases, 287 fell into the ‘missing and dead’ category.

Bangladesh has revealed that enforced disappearance cases connected to ousted leader Sheikh Hasina could number a staggering 4,000 to 6,000 people.

A new report by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Sunday said a total of 1,913 complaints were filed with it over disappearances, of which 1,569 were considered to have disappeared by “definition after verification selection”.

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“Among these, 287 allegations have fallen in the ‘Missing and Dead’ category,” the report, which was posted on Facebook by Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, read.

However, commission member Nabila Idris said the number of enforced disappearances could be between 4,000 and 6,000.

“Contacting many victims of the missing finds more victims through those who have not contacted us, don’t know about us or have moved to another country. There are many people with whom, even if we communicate ourselves, they did not agree to speak on record,” Idris said.

In November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia, months after fleeing to India, over the brutal crackdown by security forces during the 2024 student-led protests, which killed hundreds.

According to the commission, which was founded after Hasina’s ouster, members said there was a “primarily political motive” behind the forced disappearances.

Of those who had disappeared and returned alive, 75 percent were Jamaat-e-Islami members, and 22 percent were Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) members and leaders, the two main political opponents of Hasina’s Awami League.

“Among those still missing, 68 percent of them are BNP and organisation leaders and 22 percent [are from the] Jamaat-Camp,” the report explained.

According to the report, evidence towards the disappearances pointed towards Awami League chief Hasina, her defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

It claimed that Hasina had ordered the disappearance of BNP leaders Ilias Ali, Hummam Quader Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Chowdhury Alam; Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem, and Maruf Zaman.

Yunus, the interim government head, thanked the members of the inquiry for their ongoing work investigating forced disappearances, calling it “historic”.

“This report is a documentation of how people can be treated with democracy by shaking all the institutions in Bangladesh in double standards,” he said.

“Those who made this horrible incident are people like us. They are living normal lives in society by causing the most brutal events. We as a nation must come out of this atrocity forever. We need to find the cure to let this atrocity never return,” he added.

Late last month, Bangladesh mourned the death of Khaleda Zia, three-time prime minister and longtime leader of the BNP, and Hasina’s key rival.

Khaleda’s death marked the end of an era. The big question in the nation now is whether her son, Tarique Rahman, will build on her political legacy.