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Enforced Disappearances Rise in Bangladesh

by Maaz Hussain

   For over four years, Ruhul Amin, a street hawker in Dhaka, has searched
   in vain for his missing son.

   A day after his son, Mohammad Imam Hassan was abducted by criminals in
   2012, he was rescued by Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). But
   he has not returned from the custody of the paramilitary force.

   "When I went to the officers of RAB seeking return of my son, they
   demanded 100,000 takas [of bribe] from me. I said I was very poor and
   finally I paid 40,000 takas to them. Despite their promise to return my
   son to me within a few days, I have not got back my son as yet," Amin
   told VOA.

   "Looking for help, I went to the security agencies, the high court and
   the human rights groups, but no help came my way'¦ I know nothing of
   his whereabouts. I don't even know whether he is dead or alive."

   Hassan's disappearance, a practice called enforced disappearance, is
   not an isolated case in Bangladesh. According to human rights groups,
   several hundred people have been victims of enforced disappearances in
   recent years.

   While some of the victims returned alive and some were found dead, many
   others remain missing months or years after they disappeared, allegedly
   after being picked up by men from different security agencies.

   Hajera Khatun, 70, with the photo of her son Sajedul Islam Shumon, who
   became a victim of enforced disappearance in 2013. (A. Rajjak for VOA)

   Routine practice

   According to the Bangladeshi human rights group Odhikar, in the past
   five years, at least 298 people vanished through enforced
   disappearances in the country. While 138 returned alive and 39 were
   found dead, 121 have never been seen again, an Odhikar statement said.

   The group counted and documented only the cases in which witnesses
   alleged the victims were abducted by men who appeared to be from law
   enforcement agencies.

   According to Ain-o-Salish Kendra (ASK), another Bangladeshi rights
   group, at least 70 people became victims of enforced disappearances in
   Bangladesh between January and September of this year, up from 55 who
   disappeared all of last year.

   "Enforced Disappearances has been a routine practice in Bangladesh for
   some years. And, the recent figures show that the incidence of such
   disappearances in the country has been rising every year," ASK
   executive director Nur Khan told VOA. "Following our fact-finding work
   in many cases we strongly suspect that the law enforcement agencies of
   the State were involved in the enforced disappearances."

   Opposition targets

   Soon after the Sheikh Hasina-Āled her Awami League (AL) to power in
   2009, allegations of enforced disappearances began surfacing in the
   country. According to human rights groups, about half of those who
   became victims are leaders and workers of the Bangladesh Nationalist
   Party (BNP)-led opposition alliance.

   BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed said the government
   was behind the enforced disappearances of the opposition party leaders
   and workers.

   "We are sure that these disappearances are the handiwork of the law
   enforcement agencies and these activities are being supported by the
   State. In the past seven years the BNP-led alliance [has had] at least
   70 leaders and workers, including two former Members of Parliament,
   disappeared this way," Ahmed told VOA. "The law enforcement agencies
   are indulging in such inhuman activities following the command of the
   government, to protect the interest of the ruling party."

   The government rejects the charge.

   Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the allegation that the
   government is pursuing a policy of "enforced disappearance is totally
   baseless." The security agencies investigated many cases of alleged
   enforced disappearances and found that the related persons had gone
   into hiding on their own "to embarrass the government globally," the
   minister added.

   BNP leader AKM Wahiduzzaman said enforced disappearances are taking
   place in the country "mostly to annihilate the opposition force".

   "These enforced disappearances are aimed at taking away the political
   rights of the opposition parties. Those opposition party members, who
   are critical of the government over many issues and are exposing its
   malpractices, are turning the victims of the enforced disappearance,"
   Wahiduzzaman told VOA. "The law of the land will come into effect to
   deal with the cases of enforced disappearances, when the regime
   changes. It will seek to ensure justice to the families who have lost
   their near and dear ones."

   Human rights group Odhikar activists and volunteers demonstrating
   against enforced disappearances, in Bangladesh's Rajshahi district, on
   the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Aug.
   30, 2015. (Saiful Islam for VOA)

   Human rights concerns

   Phil Robertson, Asia Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, said his
   group recently issued a statement sounding alarms over the alleged
   enforced disappearance in August of three sons of Bangladeshi
   opposition leaders.

   "There is clear evidence that the three men are in government custody,
   but shockingly the authorities continue to deny holding them, and there
   has been no further news about them or their whereabouts since their
   arrests. In the buildup to the January 2014 elections, thousands of
   opposition party members were arrested and labelled as terrorists for
   their alleged participation in election related protests," Robertson
   told VOA. "Sheikh Hasina and her government have continuously blurred
   the line between opposition political party members and terrorist or
   militant forces."

   Legal rights activist Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, liaison officer of the
   Hong Kong-based Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), blamed the police
   and judiciary for the rise in enforced disappearances.

   "In Bangladesh, the justice institutions appear to be designed to
   protect the status quo, siding to the powerful elites of the day. As
   long as the police and judiciary complement each other to protect the
   agenda of the incumbent government, it's difficult to see an end to
   this practice of enforced disappearances in the country," Ashrafuzzaman
   told VOA.

   Robertson said Bangladesh's continuous practice of ensuring impunity
   for security forces to abuse rights as they want, combined with the
   government's willing reliance on those abusive practices, creates an
   environment in which violations, including enforced disappearances, can
   continue.

   For now, Ruhul Amin and others like him will keep searching for their
   missing loved ones.