The interim government instituted commission on enforced disappearance has said, “culture of denialism” emerged as the major challenge in establishing truth and ensuring accountability over the issue that featured the ousted Awami League regime.
“A major obstacle to truth and accountability in Bangladesh today is the culture of denialism around the issue of enforced disappearance,” said the commission in its second interim report, a copy of which was secured by BSS.
It added the Awami League consistently denied the existence of a systematic practice of enforced disappearance and even after the changeover of 5 August 2024 “we have struggled to confront this denialism largely because many of the perpetrators remain in positions of power”.
The report alleged that the “widespread destruction of evidence, institutional non-cooperation, intimidation of potential witnesses, and a climate of fear” exposed the commission to challenges to carry on its task.
“As a result, attempts to fully expose the system risk re-victimising those already targeted by it,” read the report, which, however, added that it would be incorrect to say that no attempts have been made to expose this system.বিস্তারিত