Chief Advisor Professor Mohammed Yunus today (9 November) promised the Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances all possible support to identify those responsible for enforced disappearances between 2009 and 2024 and hold them accountable.

“We will facilitate everything you need and provide all kinds of support,” the chief advisor told the commission members at the meeting attended by many advisors and important officials in his office.

Commissioners said they would give the government an interim report by mid-December before working further on the issue.

Legal Adviser Asif Nazrul said the government will extend the mandate of the commission even if it requires two years and will issue necessary orders, including a legal regulation for the protection of victims.

Commission Chairman Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, a retired Supreme Court Judge, told the meeting that they had received around 1,600 complaints, examined 400 complaints and interviewed 140 complainants as of October 31.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of complaints. Many people still do not come to the commission because they fear retaliation from law enforcement. From this we understand that the number of incidents is much higher than what has been reported so far,” a commission member said.

The commission member stated that they suspected that the number of enforced disappearances could be at least 3,500 and that they were trying to determine who committed the crimes and who gave the order.

The commissioner said most of the victims were in prison, and some even faced the death penalty because they had to confess before the court after their arrest.

Some disappearance victims are believed to be languishing in prisons in neighboring India.

Commission members asked for government support to preserve evidence of secret places where victims were hiding.

“Many victims told us they had not seen the sun for years. They could only sense that it was a new day when breakfast was served,” a commissioner said.

The member requested the government to impose measures on the defendant’s international travels and, if possible, to cancel his passport.

Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (retired) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, who attended the meeting, said that they would do this immediately when the list of accused was given to them by the commission.

Manfuj Alam, special assistant to the chief counsel, emphasized the importance of making the commission’s findings public and exposing those who supervised enforced disappearances.

Advisers Salehuddin Ahmed, Nurjahan Begum, Adilur Rahman Khan, M Sahawat Hussain, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Special Assistant to Principal Adviser Lieutenant General (retired) Abdul Hafiz, Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid and Principal Press Secretary to MD Siraj Uddin Mia, among others was present at the meeting.