Officers and officials charged
As part of the action, arrest warrants were issued against several former military officers, including former director generals of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and former officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
The Bangladesh Army also announced that it had detained more than a dozen officers accused of serious crimes committed during the previous administration.
“It is the first time that formal charges for forced disappearances have been filed in the country. It is a significant moment for the victims and their families,”said High Commissioner Türk.
He urged the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure due process and fair trial guaranteesparticularly with regard to detained officers. He also emphasized the protection of victims and witnesses since “sensitive and significant cases must be guaranteed.”
Address violations
Bangladesh’s ratification of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances in August 2024 and amendment to the International Crimes Tribunal Act now formally recognize enforced disappearance as a crime under national law.
However, Türk said that pending cases – some of which date back to the previous administration, which was removed from power by mass youth-led protests last year – must also be addressed and that those arbitrarily detained must be released.
Some 1,400 people, including many children, were killed in the movement that lasted several weeks and culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after she fled the country.
He had been in power since January 2009, and had previously led Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001.
The end of abuse
In its report, an OHCHR investigative investigation found credible evidence of torture, arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances that “may constitute crimes under international law.”
The central recommendation of that report – echoed again by High Commissioner Türk – was that Bangladesh ensure that those responsible for serious abuses, regardless of their rank, are brought to justice through fair and transparent procedures.
He also urged Bangladesh to end the use of the death penalty in any of these proceedings, regardless of the charge, and called for “a comprehensive process of truth, reparation, healing and justice”To begin with, so that the abuses of the past cannot be repeated.