Govt to form permanent commission: Law adviser

FE Team | Published: June 17, 2025 00:23:04

Grazyna Baranowska, Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), met Acting Foreign Secretary Md. Ruhul Alam Siddique at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in the capital on Monday. — MoFA Photo

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul has said a powerful permanent commission will be formed to curb enforced disappearance in future, reports BSS.
"An act would be formulated within a month on the prevention of enforced disappearance," he said while talking to journalists after a meeting with a delegation from the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) at his office in the capital on Monday.
Grazyna Baranowska, Vice-Chairperson and Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez, member of the United Nations Working Group held the meeting with the law adviser, an official release said.
Replying a question on the chance of scrapping the act by the next government, Dr Asif Nazrul said, BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, or NCP, whoever comes to power next, was the victims of enforced disappearances, and all of them were vocal against it.
"One of our government's commitments was to investigate and bring the incidents of enforced disappearances under prosecution. We had a meeting with the WGEID today. They praised some of our activities. They praised the initiative to enact the act," he added.
Meanwhile, the five-member commission instituted by the incumbent interim government to investigate into enforced disappearance said it found a correlation between enforcement of anti-terrorism law in a "weaponised criminal justice system" and changing political scenario during the deposed Awami League regime.
The most significant spike of cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act occurred in 2018, coinciding with a general election marked by widespread suppression of opposition activities.
It said 2021 witnessed another surge of cases reflecting the state's response to mass protests particularly coinciding with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bangladesh visit.
In contrast, opposition activity in 2023 shifted towards more direct street confrontations when police were found to be enforcing less the anti-terrorism charges.