Human Rights Watch urges Bangladesh to investigate latest suspected enforced disappearance
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) has formally called on Bangladeshi authorities to launch an immediate investigation, in line with High Court directives, into the alleged enforced disappearance of 30-year-old Miraj Sheikh near the Sundarbans. The international rights group noted that as Sheikh was last seen in the custody of the Coast Guard, the case may represent the first incident of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh in two years.
In a report released from London, HRW urged the government to reverse its decision to abandon proposed reforms aimed at curbing such practices and emphasized the urgent need to hold law enforcement agencies accountable. According to the report, the prevalence of enforced disappearances during the 15-year tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has created a deep-seated culture of impunity within the country’s security apparatus.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Witnesses reported that Coast Guard members apprehended Sheikh, a fisherman, on the night of April 10, 2026, in the Joymonir Ghol area of Mongla, whisking him away by speedboat. When his family attempted to inquire at the Coast Guard’s Digraj office the following day, officials initially claimed he was on an operation before later denying he had ever been in their custody. Further complicating the matter, shopkeepers near the site of the alleged abduction stated that individuals identifying themselves as Coast Guard personnel returned to the scene days later to remove and subsequently return Sheikh’s motorcycle.
Despite a High Court order issued on July 12 mandating that law enforcement locate and produce Sheikh within 15 days, the Coast Guard’s Western Zone public relations officer, Lieutenant Commander Mahbub Hossain, has consistently denied that the agency detained the individual.
বিজ্ঞাপন
The HRW report highlights a growing concern over the reversal of institutional safeguards. While the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus had previously enacted ordinances to empower the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to conduct independent investigations and conduct unannounced inspections of detention centers, the newly elected government has allowed these measures to expire. Instead, officials are pushing for a new legislative framework that would leave investigations into human rights abuses largely in the hands of the police, rather than an independent body.
Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW’s deputy Asia director, warned that relying on the police to investigate their own alleged abuses will fail to ensure accountability or deter future disappearances. She urged the government to revise the proposed legislation to restore the NHRC’s authority and eliminate executive interference in commission appointments. According to HRW, failing to implement these structural reforms risks perpetuating the cycles of violence that have long plagued the nation’s security sector.
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