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Dhaka: BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed has called for impartial investigations into enforced disappearances in Bangladesh, accountability for those responsible and justice, compensation and rehabilitation for victims and their families.
In a statement marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Rizvi expressed solidarity with victims of enforced disappearances worldwide and deep sympathy for their families and relatives.
He also paid tribute to those who, he said, became victims of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh during years of state repression and authoritarian rule.
“Enforced disappearance is not merely the act of making a person disappear from their family and society; it is a brutal assault on the rights to freedom, dignity, justice and life,” Rizvi said.
He said families forced to wait for years for the return of their loved ones, while remaining uncertain about their fate and being denied the right to know the truth, should never have to endure such suffering.
Rizvi alleged that enforced disappearance had been used as a “terrible tool” of political repression and to silence dissent in Bangladesh’s recent history.
He said opposition political activists and leaders, human rights defenders and people holding dissenting views had been among those affected, while many families still did not know where their loved ones were, what condition they were in or whether they would ever return.
“Their long wait is a profound responsibility before our national conscience,” he said.
The BNP leader said his party firmly believed that uncovering the truth about every enforced disappearance, conducting impartial and credible investigations, and bringing those responsible to justice were essential to establishing the rule of law.
“No individual or institution can remain above the law,” he said.
Rizvi also called for ensuring victims and their families the right to know the truth, obtain justice, receive compensation and secure appropriate rehabilitation.
He said the BNP wanted to build a Bangladesh where no state agency could ever again use enforced disappearance as a weapon against citizens, and where law enforcement and security agencies remained accountable.
“No citizen’s life, freedom or security should be endangered because of their political identity or differences of opinion,” he said.
Rizvi urged people to renew their commitment to ensuring that there would be “no more disappearances” and that no family would be forced to wait indefinitely for a loved one.
He said the fate and whereabouts of everyone still missing must be made public, those who had returned must receive justice for their experiences, and families of those who would never return must be assured truth, recognition and justice by the state.
Reiterating his solidarity with all victims of enforced disappearance and their families, Rizvi said the BNP would stand by them in the struggle to establish justice, human dignity and democratic rights.