May 25, 2015
International Week of the Disappeared 25–29 May 2015

Enforced disappearance is crime against humanity and considered an international crime. It also
violates the fundamental rights of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Article 2 of the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance defines disappearance as
the ‘arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or
by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State,
followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or
whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.’
The International Week of the Disappeared was first initiated by the Latin American Federation of
Associations of Relatives of Disappeared-Detainees (FEDEFAM) in 1981 and adopted by many
organizations of families of the disappeared and people’s organizations world-wide. The
commemoration was also meant to step up the campaign against enforced disappearances which were
then at their peak during the dark years of the dictatorship in many Latin American countries. Every
year, during the last week of May, the families of the disappeared commemorate this week.

Accordingly, Odhikar is observing the IWD from 25–29 May 2015 to pay tribute and solidarity to
the victims of enforced disappearance and their families.

Odhikar, as a member of the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), has been
documenting the cases of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh and campaigning for the ratification
of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance since
2009. According to information gathered by Odhikar, from 2009 to April 2015, 205 people have
allegedly ‘disappeared’. Among this large number, 28 people were found dead after being
disappeared; 65 persons were set free after allegedly being left in different areas; and some were
brought to courts and shown as having been arrested in criminal cases, a long time after being
disappeared. The whereabouts of 112 are still unknown. Families of the disappeared people alleged
that RAB, police and Detective Branch (DB) of the police were involved in the incidents of enforced
disappearance.

Till now 94 countries signed and 46 State parties ratified the International Convention of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearance. On the International Week of the Disappeared, Odhikar urges the
Government of Bangladesh to accede to the International Convention of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance to establish human rights and rule of law. Odhikar demands that the Government of
Bangladesh thoroughly investigate each incident of disappearance speedily and efficiently; and give
back the disappeared persons immediately to their family.