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Bangladesh can’t move ahead without some sense of justice and reconciliation for enforced disappearances under Hasina’s harsh rule

The victims of Aynaghar, a secret internment center run by the Bangladesh military’s intelligence branch where they were held in inhuman conditions, have just started to recount their horrific ordeals. The victims, some held for over a decade, hail from different age groups as well as political and social backgrounds.

After years of Sheikh Hasina’s now-toppled authoritarian leadership, Bangladesh’s victims of enforced disappearances deserve justice. Their relatives, who are also victims of those who disappeared, deserve to know the whereabouts of their loved ones for peace of mind and soul.

But justice is required not only for the victims of enforced disappearances but also for those who suffered human rights violations at the hands of the government over the last two decades.

A country rarely moves forward from trauma without some sense of justice and reconciliation. In other words, the people of Bangladesh deserve to heal and to heal they require the truth, justice and reconciliation. To achieve this, Bangladesh needs a truth commission.

According to the International Justice Resource Center, truth commissions “serve to answer the many unanswered questions generated by enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and other crimes committed” over a period of time. 

According to Priscilla B Hayner, an expert on truth commissions, they typically have four components: 1.) they focus on past violations rather than present violations; 2) they seek to present a comprehensive picture of international human rights violations over time than on a single violation; 3) while they operate for a short period of time, they deliver of a report summarizing their findings; and finally 4) they always have some kind of authority which allows them access to information and protection when investigating sensitive issues such as enforced disappearances. 

Truth commissions are not a new concept in Asia.  In 2010, the Philippine Truth Commission was created to tackle corruption. 

For Bangladesh, a truth commission can be established under the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which has demanded full disclosure of enforced disappearances.

In an ideal formation, it should be established with independent and international lawyers specializing in enforced disappearances. Many international lawyers are reportedly ready to assist Bangladesh with this crucial truth-seeking endeavor. 

Bangladesh can draw on many examples. For example, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up by the Government of National Unity to deal with that nation’s traumatic experience under apartheid.

At least 137 cases derived from the TRC process have been registered for investigation and prosecution with South African authorities for the crimes committed during the apartheid era. 

Colombia’s Truth Commission was established through the 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC- EP), which included provisions for looking into enforced disappearances that occurred in the ’70s and ’80s.

A Bangladesh Truth Commission could recommend the prosecution of the perpetrators of enforced disappearances and whether they should be prosecuted at the International Crimes Tribunals or at a local court.

The commission could even set up its own court to prosecute the perpetrators, similar to Colombia where a transitional justice court was created to address the killings of hundreds of thousands of people. In those proceedings, a military general and ten others admitted to crimes against humanity. 

Nearby, Argentina’s truth commission investigated more than 30,000 forced disappearances committed during the so-called Dirty War.  The Argentina Truth Commission’s report opened the door to the Trial of the Juntas, which successfully prosecuted perpetrators of war crimes.

Thanks to Bangladesh’s presence at the United Nations, the interim government that has replaced Hasina’s toppled regime can request various countries with relevant experience to inform Bangladesh’s truth commission.

The victims of enforced disappearances, including families and sometimes whole communities, often deserve reparations, which is recognized under international law.

To be sure, they should be adequate, effective, prompt and proportional to the gravity of the violations and harm suffered. In Bangladesh, compensation should be provided for any economic damage, loss of earnings, loss of economic opportunities and moral damages. Rehabilitation for victims and their family should also include medical and psychological care as well as social service.

A policy of non-repetition can and should also be part of reparations. In Colombia and in many other Latin American countries where enforced disappearances have occurred, truth commissions and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights generally recommend non-repetition as a part of reparation.

Now is the time for Bangladesh to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances to demonstrate that the state will never repeat such heinous crimes and to pave the way for domestic legislation to recognize enforced disappearances as a crime.

Some have argued for setting up a UN-backed ad hoc court. While this is nice in theory, such configurations don’t always deliver the desired results. Such tribunals are expensive and require strong financial and other support from the international community.

Considering the International Criminal Court and UN now face budget crises, the international community might be reluctant to support the creation of another costly UN-backed court for Bangladesh.

The total bill for the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal to address Cambodia’s genocide was over US$330 million. Many perpetrators of crimes were acquitted, while in the end, only three were convicted. Many victims and family members of victims, not to mention the perpetrators, passed away before justice was achieved.

It is doubtful that the victims in Bangladesh are willing to wait so long to receive justice for crimes that until now have been largely hidden and utterly unaddressed. 

Iffat Rahman is an Oxford University-trained Canadian lawyer. She previously worked at the International Criminal Court in a defense capacity. She has also worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia. She also worked briefly at the UNHCR Malaysia. 

This article was originally published on Asia Times.
Views in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect CGS policy.