Victim family members and Human Rights Defenders associated with Odhikar organised a human chain and a rally in Rajshahi District to commemorate the International Week of the Disappeared.
Every year, during the last week of May, countries around the world observe the International Week in Support of Victims Enforced Disappearance, to honor victims and demand justice for those responsible. The initiative was first introduced in 1981 by ‘FEDEFAM’, a South American organisation established by the families of the victims of enforced disappearance. Since then, human rights organisations across the world have continued to commemorate this week to remember and honour the victims. One of the key objectives of observing this week was to strengthen the campaign against enforced disappearance.
In May 2025, this week is being observed in Bangladesh at a crucial time when the country is going through a political transition after a student-led mass uprising that deposed 15 and a half years of authoritarian rule on 5 August 2024. During its tenure, the authoritarian regime instrumentalised enforced disappearance as a tool of state repression. It has been established that secret detention facilities were present across the country to unlawfully detain opposition political figures, dissenting voices and individuals labeled as ‘militants’. Among the reported secret detention facilities, the most notorious ones were the DGFI’s Joint Interrogation Centre and RAB’s detention cells. These facilities were reportedly used to forcibly disappear and persecute individuals who opposed the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League, as well as those who actively protested against India’s interference.
Many of the victims are yet to return, while others who had resurfaced during the authoritarian regime faced false charges, and many were held in solitary confinement. Victims of enforced disappearance reportedly experienced severe physical and psychological abuse, and in some cases, extrajudicial killings.
Odhikar has consistently campaigned for the return of disappeared individuals through various programmes. Due to its activism, human rights defenders associated with Odhikar have reportedly faced repression under the former authoritarian government.
On this occasion, Odhikar raises the following demands to the Interim Government:
- Public disclosure of the fate of individuals who were forcibly disappeared and have not yet returned;
- Legal provisions allowing the spouses and children of disappeared individuals to manage their bank accounts and sell or utilise their immovable and movable assets and property;
- Diplomatic negotiations between the Bangladesh government and Indian authorities to investigate whether additional victims of enforced disappearance remain in India, as some of the previously disappeared individuals were later found there;
- Withdrawal of false charges filed against individuals who reappeared after being disappeared. In some cases, detainees were sentenced to death by lower courts based on coerced confessions or fabricated testimonies. These false cases must be overturned, and all affected individuals must be released;
- Holding all individuals responsible for enforced disappearances accountable through legal proceedings and ensuring their prosecution before the International Crimes Tribunal.
