Commission finds link of ex-PM Hasina in enforced disappearances

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Saturday submitted its first interim report to Chief Adviser of the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus, stating that the investigation found links of the high-ups of the deposed government in such incidents .
The five-member commission, led by retired justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury, handed over the report titled "Unfolding The Truth" to the Chief Adviser at the state guesthouse Jamuna in Dhaka, said a spokesperson for the CA Office.
The commission chairman said they had found, prima facie, involvement of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and some high-ranking officials of security forces and her government, including her defence adviser Major- General (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, in the enforced disappearances.
It also found the connection of former director- general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre, and sacked Major-General Ziaul Ahsan, and senior police officers Monirul Islam and Md. Harun-Or-Rashid with several incidents of enforced disappearance.
The commission said that they already recorded a total of 1,676 complaints of enforced disappearances, while 758 complaints had already been scrutinised. It estimates the number of enforced disappearances in the country would cross 3,500.
The commission has recommended disbanding the elite-force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
While submitting the report, the commission chairman said they had found a "systematic design" so that the incidence of enforced disappearances remains undetected.
The commission also found that forces "exchanged the victims and operations were deliberately segmented", he said.
"Individuals carrying out enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing lacked knowledge about victims," he said.
The commission chairman said that they would deliver another interim report in March and would require at least another year to complete the scrutiny of all allegations they had received.
The Chief Adviser thanked the commission for submitting the interim report and promised all possible support in accomplishing the job.
"You are doing a really very important job. We are ready to give you all kinds of support that you need," he was quoted as saying.

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