Bangladesh signs UN treaty on protection against enforced disappearances

Bangladesh has officially joined the United Nations' International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Prof Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to the interim government, signed the convention today (29 August) during the weekly meeting of the Council of Advisers, according to his office.

"It is a historic occasion," said Prof Yunus, who assumed leadership of the interim administration on 8 August, three days after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the wake of a student-led uprising.

The instrument was signed a day before the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed on 30 August.

The convention, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2006 in New York, had not previously been ratified by Bangladesh.

In a one-page statement issued by the Chief Adviser's Office, Yunus declared, "On behalf of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, I, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser, hereby declare that we are acceding to the above-mentioned convention and pledge to faithfully implement the terms and conditions therein. Signed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 29 August 2024, on this instrument of accession."

For years, Bangladesh has faced allegations of enforced disappearances, with several families claiming their loved ones have been forcibly taken.

Organisations like "Mayer Daak," meaning "the call of the mothers," have been actively advocating for the cause.

Earlier this week, the interim government formed a commission to investigate every case of enforced disappearance by security forces during Hasina's 15-year-long authoritarian rule.

Noor Khan Liton, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organisation, told The Business Standard, "It has been a long-standing desire of domestic human rights activists for Bangladesh to sign the international convention against enforced disappearances.

"Our activities over the past 16 years have seen results within just one month of this government's tenure; congratulations to them."

Liton, also a member of the commission formed to investigate cases of enforced disappearances involving various intelligence and law enforcement agencies since 2010, noted that the signing of this convention will enhance transparency and accountability for Bangladesh on the international stage.

"This will first lead to legislation aimed at preventing disappearances. Secondly, measures should be taken to address all gaps in the existing legal framework. This will help ensure that the law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh are held properly accountable," he added.

According to the Preamble of the "International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance", the State Parties to this Convention consider the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Article 2 of the Convention defines "enforced disappearance" as the arrest, detention, abduction, or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state or by persons or groups acting with the authorisation, support, or acquiescence of the state.

This is followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealing the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, thereby placing that person outside the protection of the law, it added.