International Day of Enforced Disappearances (commonly known as International Day for the Prevention of Disappearances) is observed worldwide on 30 August every year. The main purpose of the day is to remember those who have been forcibly disappeared under state or institutional auspices, express solidarity with their families and create global awareness and accountability against this crime.

Background and History

UN Recognition: An International Charter for the Protection of Missing Persons (ICPPED) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2006. Later, at the December 2010 conference, August 30 was officially declared as the International Day for the Prevention of Missing Persons, and since 2011 it has been observed around the world.

Main goals: To highlight disappearances as a crime against humanity on the world stage, end impunity, establish justice and provide support to victims’ families.

Global and Bangladesh context

Legal action: Disappearances of journalists, dissident professionals, opposition political activists and human rights activists were widespread during the fascist Awami League government in Bangladesh. And these disappearances have been done by the former fascist Prime Minister of Bangladesh Hasina herself.

After the political transition in 2024, investigations into cases of enforced disappearance began. Following this, in August 2026, the Bangladesh government approved the draft ‘Prevention and Remedies of Enforced Disappearances Act, 2026’, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for disappearances and death penalty in case of death. But it is a sad fact that the law has put the burden of investigation in the hands of those involved in disappearances.

International situation: Human rights organizations are constantly monitoring the cases of forced disappearance of journalists, human rights activists and ordinary citizens in various war and conflict zones of the world including not only Bangladesh but also Ukraine and Palestine.

The United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR) and various international organizations have been making strong demands worldwide to ensure the complete abolition of this crime and the right of victims to know the truth.

My enforced disappearance belt :

On Friday, August 4, 2017, at 1:30 pm, the joint forces of the then fascist Hasina government of Bangladesh forcibly entered my house. Later I came to know that it was a joint operation of theirs. The forces that forcibly entered my house were the army, the RAB force led by Lt. Col. Ziaul Hasan, DGFI, members of DB, SB and NSI. It is worth noting that I was the only person who was forcibly disappeared by the joint forces in Bangladesh through this joint operation. No one else was forcibly disappeared through this joint operation. Joint operations are usually conducted under the protocol of the President and the Prime Minister.

The day was Friday. Before the Friday prayers, a call came on my mother’s mobile. I picked up the phone and then the line was cut off without saying anything from the other end. On Thursday, I returned home from the office of ‘The Asian Age’ newspaper, I am the assistant editor of this newspaper. Since that Friday, I have been at home day and night and have not left my house.

On Friday night, I was working on the computer until 1 am, and within 10 minutes of turning off the computer at 1 am, I saw some people running around my house with guns in their hands. I already knew that some terrorists wanted to attack and kill me, so I suspected that those terrorists might have come to attack and kill me.

I quickly went up from the ground floor to the fifth floor in the dark, but I saw that the roof door was closed. Then I came to the third floor and started calling the people in the house, but no one responded to my calls. At that time, I was wearing a three-quarter. I was wearing a belt and the kidnappers came to the third floor in the dark and started beating me on the head and all over my body. They tore the buttons of my three-quarter and opened the belt. I was holding the three-quarter with my right hand and the railing of the stairs with my left hand. There were probably 20-25 members of the force, all of them were beating me and some were trying to pull me down from the railing, but I held the railing with my left hand in such a way that they could not even pull me down.

Later, the force terrorists started hitting me hard on the head and I let go of the railing to save myself. Then they forcibly took me down. I had no clothes on. They took me in front of the house where their white microbus was parked. My mother said that I would go with my son, then they said yes, you come too. But everyone has forbidden my mother to go, so my mother does not come anymore. They did not even force my mother.

The people of the house asked them, who are you? Why are you taking him away by force? They replied that we are government law enforcement officers. We are taking him on the orders of the government because he is working and speaking against the government.

While getting into the microbus, one of them said, Sir, shall I give him the injection now? This is very troublesome! The man said, no, don’t give him the injection. I was taken to a white microbus, one sat on my right and one on my left, and a few more sat in the back seat. From the alley next to my BRTA, the car stopped in front of the DGFI office in Kachukhet via Mirpur 13, 14 roads. That night, there was a deep silence in front of the 14-story intelligence agency building and the entire cantonment. And the security forces concerned were on high alert. Before getting down from the white microbus in front of the DGFI office, Colonel Zaki said, if you listen to us, you can go home as before, and if you don’t, you won’t get anything. I said, I won’t listen to you. How did you understand? He lost consciousness on my question. Then he got me down from the white microbus in front of the DGFI office.

Their plan was to take me to the mirror room. But since I was sitting in the car reading Isam Azam and asking that question in response to his words, he did not let me enter the DGFI mirror room in the basement, he said loudly, this is DB, come here. But before that, he asked the DGFI security personnel to enter and clear the place.

By the grace of Allah, I am fine, he sent me to the DB mirror room instead of the DGFI mirror room. My right hand always holds my three-quarters, in fact, at that time my right hand was working like a belt.

To be continued…