Who We Are?

Since Bangladesh gained independence in 1971 under the Awami League and later fell under the one-party dictatorship of BKSAL until August 1975, enforced disappearances have been a disturbing reality.

This trend resurfaced when the Awami League regained power in 2009, with a fascist dictatorship at the helm. Enforced disappearances have since become widespread, marking the authoritarian rule of the Awami League. As of May 5, 2024, thousands of people have reportedly disappeared, and many others have been extrajudicially executed.

Enforced disappearances remain a horrific reality, with countless victims unaccounted for and their families left in anguish, despite years of efforts to bring attention to the issue.

In response to this, the Voice of Enforced Disappeared Persons (VOED) was established as a platform in Bangladesh to combat these crimes against humanity.

VOED’s members include individuals who have survived enforced disappearances, as well as the families of those who remain missing.

Impact on Survivors and Their Families

In Bangladesh, as elsewhere, survivors of enforced disappearances endure severe physical and mental suffering, subjected to horrendous torture. These victims often suffer from PTSD and live in constant fear for their lives and the safety of their loved ones.

Deprived of all rights and removed from legal protection, they exist in a state of legal limbo. Survivors and families of the disappeared seek justice, not revenge, and the restoration of the rule of law.

Aim and Objectives

The aim and mission of this platform is to directly address the issue of enforced disappearances, focusing primarily on Bangladesh, but also on a global scale. VOED is dedicated to ensuring that state authorities strictly comply with the International  Convention for the Protection of All Persons Against Enforced Disappearance, while advocating for the worldwide ratification of the convention.

VOED envisions a world free from enforced disappearances, recognizing them as serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity, prohibited under international law. The platform works toward the universal adoption and effective enforcement of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and collaborates with existing networks to support these efforts.

Enforced disappearances have been occurring with impunity in Bangladesh since its independence, evolving into an institutionalized form of repression. These actions violate Articles 9 and 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as Articles 31, 32, and 33 of Bangladesh’s Constitution. Furthermore, Article 7(1)(i) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity.

To raise awareness, the International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is observed annually on August 30th.

Globally, the majority of the enforced disappearance victims are men, and those who resurface alive often endure extreme physical and psychological torture throughout their confinement.

These individuals are placed outside the protection of the law, leaving them vulnerable and defenseless. Survivors face an increased risk of further human rights violations or even death.

For those who escape extrajudicial execution and survive, the psychological and physical scars from their ordeal remain permanent. The pain is equally profound for the families of the disappeared, who face not only emotional trauma but also severe financial hardship.

These victims, often the primary breadwinners, are left without financial resources, employment, or income, resulting in economic despair for their families. Each resurfaced victim represents not just an individual, but a family and community deeply affected by the loss and trauma.

Victims who resurface alive often encounter significant barriers when seeking assistance due to complex legal and institutional systems. Lacking the necessary information and resources to assert their rights, they are frequently met with confusing responses from authorities, and their cases are often ignored or dismissed. These victims are passed between institutions with no resolution in sight.

Enforced disappearances are often associated with murder, where victims are abducted, illegally detained, and subjected to torture during interrogations, ultimately being killed and disposed of secretly. The perpetrators can deny responsibility, as there is typically no evidence of the victim’s death.

Mission

1. VOED is committed to actively advocating for victims of enforced disappearances, continuously pressuring the government to determine the fate and whereabouts of all individuals who have disappeared. If authorities claim ignorance of the whereabouts of the disappeared, VOED is determined to force the authority, under the legal framework, to uncover the truth. If they know where these individuals are, VOED will try to raise awareness to the release them or provide clear details of their death.
2. VOED is dedicated to rationalizing mandates, reducing bureaucratic overlap, and fostering collaboration to ensure that the system works for the victims, not against them. The organization strives to eradicate enforced disappearances permanently, recognizing them as cumulative human rights violations. These violations include:

• The right to life: the victim may be killed or their fate may remain unknown
• The right to personal security and dignity
• The right to be free from arbitrary detention
• The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
• The right to humane conditions of detention
• The right to legal recognition
• The right to a fair trial
• The right to family life
• VOED maintains connections with relevant UN bodies, international and domestic human rights organizations, and individuals focused on addressing involuntary disappearances. VOED urges the Government of Bangladesh to:

• Investigate cases of enforced disappearances and, where admissible evidence exists, prosecute those responsible in fair trials before civilian courts.
• Criminalize enforced disappearances, whether committed by state agents or non-state actors, under national law, and impose appropriate penalties reflecting the severity of the crime.
• Implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and accept the jurisdiction of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) to consider communications from victims or other states parties.
• Ensure that survivors and families of the disappeared receive reparations, including compensation, rehabilitation, restitution, and guarantees that such crimes will not happen again.
• Abolish any amnesty laws or measures of impunity, such as statutes of limitations.
• VOED recognizes that victims, their families, witnesses, and cooperating individuals are the primary sources of information on human rights violations. Therefore, VOED urges state authorities to implement immediate and adequate protection programs for victims, witnesses, and their families to prevent further harm and reduce threats to their safety.
• Enforced disappearances are not simply abductions; they are state-sponsored, well-coordinated operations involving state machinery. VOED advocates for the amendment of existing legal frameworks to ensure that perpetrators of enforced disappearances are tried for crimes against humanity, thus ensuring justice and empowering the tribunal to hold perpetrators accountable.

Final Lines…

Reparations, along with suitable employment and adequate assistance, must urgently be provided to survivors of enforced disappearances. Victims who have been jailed on false charges must be immediately freed, with their sentences annulled or commuted.

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances must expedite nationwide efforts to locate victims, including in remote areas, and collect their statements for use by the International Crimes Tribunal.

The legal framework must be reformed to prevent future governments from exploiting security agencies to commit such heinous crimes. This includes not only enforced disappearances, but also extrajudicial killings and custodial torture, ensuring fair, transparent, and internationally acceptable judicial investigations.

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has stressed that the road to truth and justice is long but essential, even if it may be painful.

The legal framework should apply retrospective laws to ensure that enforced disappearances since 2009, during the fascist regime, are tried as crimes against humanity, not mere abductions. Reforms should be made to insulate security agencies from political corruption and end the culture of impunity once and for all.

Advocacy, lobbying and campaigning both at domestic, regional, and international levels to encourage is a basic tenant of VOED. As part of its campaign, it requests to ratify the treaty and fully implement it in their domestic jurisdictions as one of the proofs of the States’ commitment for extending cooperation to the United Nations human rights mechanisms.

VOED is concerned over the political developments in several countries having a growing number of enforced disappearances, although they are not State-party to the Convention yet. Continued non-cooperation with, and disregards to, the Special Procedures, such as the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), has now made the victims’ families more vulnerable as there is no other resort left for them to seek redress.

Considering the psychological and emotional impacts, authorities must provide necessary psychosocial support for both victims and their families. This support should include:

• Emotional support for survivors and their families, addressing severe distress, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, sleeplessness, and intrusive memories.
• Suitable rehabilitation programs, including financial assistance, medical care, and free education for survivors and their families, especially children.
• Family members of the disappeared, particularly women who bear the burden of searching and supporting their families, should be granted official documentation to access the victims’ properties and bank accounts without delay.

VOED will continue to campaign for the determination of the fate of disappeared persons, urging authorities to make more efforts to uncover the truth and provide answers to the families of the victims.