UN probe links AL to disappearances
Evidence gathered by United Nations investigators of abduction, arbitrary detention and the concealment of people’s whereabouts by Bangladesh’s security and intelligence agencies under the former Awami League (AL) government has renewed concerns over the country’s record on enforced disappearance.
The findings of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) come into focus as Bangladesh joins the world today (August 30) in observing the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, which calls for truth, justice, accountability and measures to prevent such violations from recurring.
Following an independent fact-finding inquiry into human rights violations surrounding the July-August 2024 mass uprising, OHCHR said it had reasonable grounds to believe that the former government, its security and intelligence apparatus and violent elements associated with the Awami League had systematically committed serious human rights violations.
The findings provide a detailed account of the involvement of state agencies in abducting and arbitrarily detaining protesters and others during the uprising.
“Detective Branch and DGFI colluded in the abduction and arbitrary detention of student leaders and sought to coerce them to renounce the protests,” the OHCHR report said.
The finding implicated the police’s Detective Branch (DB) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) in taking protest leaders into custody outside normal legal safeguards.
OHCHR said the DB routinely used arbitrary detention and torture to obtain information and confessions.
The headquarters of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit was also identified as a place where many arbitrarily detained people, including children, were held.
The investigation found that DGFI, National Security Intelligence (NSI) and National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), along with specialised police units, played roles in violations aimed at suppressing dissent.
According to the report, the agencies shared intelligence, including information obtained through surveillance that violated the right to privacy, to facilitate mass arbitrary arrests in late July 2024.
The UN investigators also identified what they described as a “systematic and organized effort to conceal serious violations”.
DGFI, NSI and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) allegedly pressured media outlets not to report fully and accurately on the protests and their violent suppression. DGFI also joined police in intimidating victims, their families and lawyers, the report said.
The findings are particularly relevant to enforced disappearance, in which a person is deprived of liberty and authorities subsequently refuse to acknowledge the detention or conceal the person’s fate or whereabouts, placing the victim outside the protection of the law.
Responsibility at highest levels
The UN inquiry said responsibility for the wider pattern of violations extended beyond individual security personnel to the highest levels of the political and security establishment.
Based on testimony from senior officials and other sources with direct knowledge of events, OHCHR said an integrated and systematic operation involving police, paramilitary, military and intelligence agencies, as well as violent elements associated with the Awami League, operated with the “full knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership”.
The report said the then prime minister and home affairs minister led parallel efforts to coordinate the security and intelligence apparatus and received regular reports from multiple sources about developments on the ground.
It also said the political leadership issued direct orders and other directives authorising and guiding operations by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), RAB, DGFI, Bangladesh Police and its Detective Branch that involved serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, against protesters and civilians.
OHCHR further identified an institutional environment in which safeguards against arbitrary detention and torture had effectively broken down.
“Neither prosecutorial authorities nor the judiciary took any meaningful action to curb acts and practices of arbitrary detention and torture, or to ensure that any officials perpetrating such acts were held accountable,” it said.
The UN body attributed the violations to broader problems including corrupted governance structures, erosion of the rule of law, politicisation of the security and justice sectors and entrenched impunity.
It said the former government had relied on and expanded a legal and institutional framework to suppress peaceful civic and political dissent and, until its fall on August 5, 2024, had made no apparent genuine effort to investigate or ensure accountability for serious violations allegedly committed by security forces or Awami League supporters.
Evidence and accountability
The fact-finding inquiry, conducted at the invitation of the then interim government, examined alleged violations between July 1 and August 15, 2024, covering the mass uprising and its immediate aftermath.
OHCHR conducted more than 230 in-depth interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as 36 interviews with government, security-sector and political party officials, including serving and former senior officials with direct knowledge of the events.
The testimony was corroborated using authenticated photographs and videos, medical and forensic analysis, weapons analysis and other evidence.
OHCHR stressed that its conclusions met the “reasonable grounds to believe” standard, which does not establish individual criminal guilt but provides a basis for further investigation.
The UN body called for independent and impartial investigations and accountability, as well as truth-seeking, reparations, memorialisation and security-sector reforms to prevent similar human rights violations from recurring.
