Govt moves to strengthen victims rights
The government has begun work on a new institutional framework to support people and families affected by enforced disappearances, killings, torture and alleged extrajudicial violence, in a move aimed at strengthening state accountability, victim protection and access to justice.
The proposed directorate, to be established under the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, would oversee welfare assistance, medical treatment, legal protection and rehabilitation for victims and their families.
The initiative was discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the ministry on Sunday, chaired by Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan. State Minister Eshrak Hossain and ministry Secretary Md Ashraful Islam also attended.
Formal state recognition
Khan said the state had already recognised people affected by the July Mass Uprising and established the July Mass Uprising Directorate to provide support to them.
He said the government now intended to formally recognise people who had made significant sacrifices during prolonged movements for the restoration of democracy.
The proposed framework would cover people allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance, killing, extrajudicial violence or torture, as well as those who lost their eyesight, suffered permanent disabilities or spent years in prison after being implicated in what the government describes as false cases.
The minister said the initiative would go beyond financial assistance by formally recognising the sacrifices of victims and their families.
He said the government also wanted to create lasting safeguards so that no future authoritarian force could deprive citizens of their democratic rights in a similar manner.
Khan stressed the human cost of such incidents, saying families should never again have to lose parents, spouses or children under circumstances involving what he described as “medieval brutality”.
Three-pronged plan
The meeting identified three key measures for implementing the initiative.
First, the government plans to establish a dedicated directorate under the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs for affected individuals and their families.
Second, it plans to formulate legislation defining the rights and compensation of victims of enforced disappearance, killing, torture and alleged extrajudicial killings, as well as their families.
Third, the government will consider amending the Rules of Business, 1996, to formally assign these responsibilities to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.
Officials also discussed providing assistance in line with Bangladesh’s Constitution and the United Nations’ Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation.
The proposed framework would address a broad range of needs, including financial compensation, medical care, legal protection, welfare support and rehabilitation.
Liberation War ideals and democratic rights
State Minister Eshrak Hossain said the fundamental spirit of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War was to build a society where people could live freely, human rights would be protected, state coercion would end and democratic governance based on voting rights would prevail.
He alleged that these principles had been undermined since 2009 through the deprivation of voting rights and incidents of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings allegedly carried out with state patronage.
Hossain said the government was therefore seeking to determine what support the state could provide to the large number of people who, according to him, had sacrificed their lives, suffered abuse, faced enforced disappearance or experienced severe financial hardship while pursuing the ideals of the Liberation War.
The proposed directorate and legal framework are intended to provide a more structured institutional response to victims and their families while establishing clearer state responsibilities for protection, rehabilitation and reparation.
