Bangladesh’s new government has signed the Instrument of Accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
The signing was headed by the country’s Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, and took place during the interim government’s advisory council’s weekly meeting.
Yunus described the signing of the UN convention as “a historic occasion.” The action comes as Bangladesh’s new authorities launched an investigation on Wednesday into the alleged abduction of hundreds of civilians by security agents under the reign of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
It includes the notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a paramilitary organization accused of multiple human rights violations and sanctioned by the US for its involvement in extrajudicial executions and abductions.
The five-member committee, led by a retired high court judge, would also look into other paramilitary police forces, including as the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Human Rights Watch reported last year that security forces had performed “over 600 enforced disappearances” since Hasina took power in 2009, with around 100 still unaccounted for.
Many of those detained belonged to Hasina’s adversaries, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest religious party.
Hasina’s government has continuously disputed the charges, alleging that some of those reported missing drowned in the Mediterranean while attempting to reach Europe.
Hasina escaped to India via helicopter on August 5 after weeks of student-led protests drove her Bangladesh to resign, ending her 15-year leadership.
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