Sheikh Hasina Era

The panel — hired by the Bangladesh government to investigate security agencies' disappearances on behalf of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — on Monday announced that "culture of impunity" continued to prevail in the country.

Human Rights Violation

The Enforced Disappearance Inquiry Commission is investigating abuses committed under Hasina's administration, whose government was charged with gross human rights violations.That covers the extrajudicial murders of dozens of political activists and the illegal kidnap and disappearance of dozens of others.
The panel was formed by caretaker chief, Nobel peace prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, who has come under fierce political pressure following parties plotting to gain an advantage before polls due early next year.

Role of Military in Bangladesh

Bangladesh enforced disappearances were not isolated acts of evil but the product of a politicised machinery institution that licensed, legitimized, and frequently rewarded them," the commission stated, in part of a report issued by the interim government on Monday.
"Alarmingly, this impunity culture prevails even after the August 5, 2024 regime change.".
The commission documented over 250 instances of enforced disappearance in the 15 years of Hasina's Awami League rule.

Commission Chairman Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury previously stated that it was the responsibility of individual officers, who were "involved in carrying out enforced disappearances", but not that of the entire armed forces.
Last week, rights group Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued a joint statement urging the security forces to "cooperate fully with the commission by ensuring free and uninterrupted access to all centres of detention. and providing free access to documents relating to people arrested or detained.".

Hasina Deported to India

Hasina, 77, is in exile in India, where she escaped after she was ousted last year.
She has defied demands to go back to Dhaka to stand trial on charges equivalent to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentee persists.