Bangladesh has joined the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).

Interim government's Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus signed the convention at the advisory council meeting today (Aug 29) as the next International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances will be marked on August 30.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk is likely to visit Dhaka in September and the government is giving special importance to joining the conviction before his visit.

According to the statistics of the rights body Odhikar, more than 700 people fell victims of enforced disappearance over the last 15 years and over 150 of them are still traceless.

Bangladesh has been subject to criticism in the international arena over the allegations of state-sponsored enforced disappearance for over one and a half decades.

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on August 5, several people were released from the secret detention center known as 'Aynaghor'.

The UN General Council adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) in 2006. It entered into force in December 2010 with 32 countries endorsing it. 

Currently, 75 countries join the convention. The convention aims to prevent enforced disappearances and combat impunity for the crime of enforced disappearance, as well as to establish the right of any person not to be subjected to enforced disappearance, and the right of victims to justice and to reparation.

BDST: 1327 HRS, AUG 29, 2024
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