BNP Acting Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday said no individual or institution should remain above the law and called for impartial investigations and justice in every case of enforced disappearance.
Rizvi said BNP firmly believes that uncovering the truth behind every enforced disappearance, conducting impartial and credible investigations and bringing those responsible to justice are essential conditions for establishing justice.
In a message issued on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances to be observed on August 30, Rizvi said, “BNP will stand beside them in the struggle to establish justice, human dignity and democratic rights,”.
He expressed deep sympathy and solidarity with victims of enforced disappearance and their families, calling for truth, justice and accountability for every such incident.
Rizvi paid profound respect to all people subjected to enforced disappearance worldwide and those who became victims of enforced disappearance during years of state repression and authoritarian rule in Bangladesh.
He said enforced disappearance is not merely the act of making a person disappear from their family and society, but a brutal assault on human freedom, dignity, justice and the right to life.
“The unbearable pain of waiting year after year for a loved one to return, uncertainty about their fate and being deprived of the right to know the truth, no family should ever have to endure this,” Rizvi said.
He said enforced disappearance has been used as a dreadful tool of political repression and silencing dissent in Bangladesh’s recent history.
“Many people, including leaders and activists of opposition political parties, human rights defenders and dissenters, have fallen victim to it,” he said.
Many families still do not know where their loved ones are, what condition they are in or whether they will ever return, Rizvi said.
“Their prolonged wait remains a profound responsibility before our national conscience,” he said.
He also called for ensuring the rights of victims of enforced disappearance and their families to know the truth, receive justice, obtain compensation and receive proper rehabilitation.