The government of Bangladesh is responsible for gross violation of Human Rights and abuse of democracy in Bangladesh, including a large number of indiscriminate and unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, barbaric torture, arbitrary mass arrests and detentions, and other forms of human rights abuses, such as gagging the press, for which, on 5 July 2021, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) included the Bangladesh Prime Minister in the list of the 37 heads of state, who have been branded as “predators of press freedom”. The regime has rigged the elections of 2008, 2014 and 2018 by ballot-box stuffing, so that the regime is unelected, and the people have been suffering under its ruthless state terrorism.
On 30 August 2021, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we refer to the number of the victims of disappearances in Bangladesh as recorded by Odhikar (Rights), a reputed Human Rights organization in Bangladesh, who wrote: “Although fear and threats may deter some from reporting a disappearance, 603 persons have been reportedly subjected to enforced disappearances in Bangladesh between January 2009 and June 2021.”
We fully support the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ statement on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, 30 August 2021, as he urged countries to fulfil their obligations to prevent and prosecute cases of enforced disappearance, a “cowardly practice” which the COVID-19 pandemic has made even more difficult to combat. We also fully agree with him as he said, “Together, we can and we must end all enforced disappearances.”
We also fully endorse the joint statement issued by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Mayer Daak and Odhikar on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, 2021.
*The Coalition for Human Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh (www.chrdbangladesh.org)
August 30, 2021
