One dozen rights watchdogs across the world expressed concerns Friday about "gross human rights violations" in Bangladesh.
The violations, "including cases of enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, and torture continue to occur," according to a statement ahead of International Human Rights Day 2022, observed globally on Saturday with the theme. "Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All."
The rights bodies, including Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, Capital Punishment Justice Project, Maayer Daak (Mother's Call), Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Human Rights Commission, Odhikar and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, added the absence of effective institutions to prevent political intolerance, undemocratic practices and human rights abuses have resulted in "rampant impunity" in Bangladesh.
Underlining that the South Asian state of 170 million people is a party to eight major international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture, the statement urged the government to create an independent, specialized mechanism to work closely with victim-families and civil society to investigate allegations of gross human rights violations.
"The current authoritarian government has deprived the people of the benefits of good governance and administration of justice through the politicization of various state institutions, including the judiciary and the Election Commission," it said, adding that despite strong international criticism, the government has intensified its crackdown on civil society organizations and human rights defenders.
The statement added that law enforcement agencies have conducted raids and indiscriminate arrest operations against opposition party leaders and activists.
Sajedul Islam Shumon, an activist for main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was forcefully disappeared, along with seven cohorts, Dec. 4, 2013, from the Bashundhara residential area in the national capital of Dhaka, according to family members.
"We are still waiting for a phone call that will tell us about the location of my brother and we will go to receive him," Shumon's younger sister, Sanjida Islam, told Anadolu Agency.
His sister, a Maayer Daak organizer, said it is a great oppression against the family that the government is not tracing her brother but keeping them under threat.
She alleged that law enforcement has come to her home several times and questioned her family about her brother's whereabouts as if he was hidden by his own family.
"Many people witnessed that the elite police force picked my brother and seven others," she said. "We know that many victims of enforced disappearance are at different locations and our belief has become stronger after a recent report about some secret torture cells of the government."
She said in case of a specific allegation, law enforcement can arrest anyone and produce them before the court for trial.
"But without any judicial trial, they are keeping people in their secret torture cells for years after forcefully disappearing them. It is a big crime," she said. "Our main demand is to stop enforced disappearances in Bangladesh from now on and justice for the crimes already perpetrated and those who are still forcefully disappeared to be traced out."
Earlier this year, Maayer Daak submitted a list of 619 people who have been victims of enforced disappearances since 2009 in Bangladesh.
Nur Khan, chief advisor at Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), told Anadolu Agency that for a long time human rights defenders have been demanding a reliable and impartial investigation of incidents of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh.
"Unfortunately, there is no visible initiative from the state over the issue," he said, adding that a commission should be formed with the support of the United Nations to investigate all rights violations including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal refuted the claims in an interview with Anadolu Agency.
He insisted that there has been no case of enforced disappearance and law enforcement agencies act within their jurisdiction.
"There are many situations where people go into hiding voluntarily for family conflicts and other reasons," he said, adding that law enforcement has detected such cases.
