A government-appointed commission in Bangladesh reports that at least 287 people abducted during Sheikh Hasina's administration are presumed dead after examining 1,569 cases. The panel says bodies were likely dumped in rivers such as the Buriganga or buried in unmarked mass graves and recommends forensic identification and DNA collection. The commission alleges security forces acted under Hasina's orders and notes many victims were linked to Jamaat-e-Islami or the BNP. Separate exhumations in Dhaka recovered bodies with bullet wounds; the UN has estimated up to 1,400 killed during the crackdowns.
Bangladesh Commission: 287 Presumed Killed During Hasina-Era Abductions
Family members mourn at the graves of relatives after their identification by an investigative commission at the Rayerbazar Graveyard in Dhaka (Munir UZ ZAMAN)(Munir UZ ZAMAN/AFP/AFP)
A government-appointed commission in Bangladesh announced on Monday that it has identified at least 287 people who are presumed to have been killed after being abducted during the administration of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The panel, formed after Hasina was toppled in a mass uprising in August 2024, said it reviewed 1,569 abduction cases and found evidence suggesting some victims' bodies were dumped in rivers such as the Buriganga in Dhaka or interred in unmarked mass graves in several locations.
“We have identified a number of unmarked graves in several places where the bodies were presumably buried,” commission member Nur Khan Liton told AFP.
In its final report, submitted to the new government, the commission concluded that security forces carried out abductions and killings under orders from Hasina and senior officials. The panel said many of those seized were affiliated with the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami or the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The commission urged the government to seek international forensic assistance to identify remains and to collect and preserve DNA samples from relatives of the missing to enable identification and future prosecutions.
Separately, police began exhuming a mass grave in Dhaka in December. Criminal Investigation Department chief Md Sibgat Ullah said at least eight bodies recovered from that grave bore bullet wounds and have been linked to victims of the uprising against Hasina.
The United Nations has estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to hold on to power. In November, Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity.
“We are grateful for finally being able to know where our brother is buried,” said Mohamed Nabil, whose 28-year-old sibling Sohel Rana was identified among those recovered from the Dhaka grave. “But we demand a swift trial for the police officials who shot at the people during the uprising.”
Investigations and forensic work are ongoing as authorities and international experts are urged to cooperate to confirm identities, preserve evidence and pursue accountability.
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