Not only the July-August murders, but all the misdeeds in the last 15 years will be prosecuted, said the chief advisor of the interim government, Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Even Sheikh Hasina will be asked back from India, he said.
On the 100th anniversary of the interim government on Sunday evening (November 17), Dr. Yunus said this.
Commenting on the need to reorganize this country, which has suffered from autocracy, the chief adviser said, ‘After the July-August revolution, we got a country in which there was chaos everywhere. Law and order forces were placed in front of the people to maintain the dictatorship. During the revolution, about one and a half thousand students and workers were martyred. Every day more new martyrs are added to the list.’
‘We will prosecute every murder of those who have left this world as victims of the tyranny’s outrages. The initiative we have taken to prosecute the July-August murders is progressing well. We will also want the fallen dictator Sheikh Hasina back from India.’
He said, ‘Not only the July-August killings, we will prosecute all the misdeeds in the last 15 years. Many people have gone missing, murdered during this time.’
A commission has been formed to investigate the disappearance. Yunus said, “The head of the commission told me that they have received information of 1,600 missing persons till October.” In their opinion, this number will exceed 3,500.
“Many are afraid to report a missing person to the commission, thinking that they may be victimized again by the accused persons. I want to assure you that you should report your complaint to the commission without hesitation. No one can afford to lay hands on you again.’
Professor Yunus said, ‘The details of the victims that we have received from the members of the Disappearance Commission are very shocking. After the July-August revolution, students wrote their thoughts on the walls of the city-port. Those who have gone missing before them, have written on the walls of each hideout the poignant account of their plight. Our hearts are shaken by hearing about their sufferings. We will bring those involved in this to justice.
“No matter how powerful the accused, no matter the force, there is no chance of letting him off the hook. Not only in the country, we have also taken the initiative to prosecute those involved in the disappearances, murders and July-August massacre in the international court. I have already spoken to Karim Khan, the chief counsel of the International Criminal Court.
The Chief Adviser said that the International Anti-Disappearance Convention has been signed so that no member of the law-enforcement forces or anyone else can be involved in any such crime including murder, disappearance.
In this regard, he said, ‘You have seen, United Nations High Commissioner for International Human Rights, Falker Turk, recently visited Bangladesh. The United Nations extended its cooperation to the investigation of the July-August killings. They have promised to hand over their report to us in the first week of December itself.’
He said that they (United Nations) are being regularly maintained in the investigation of past disappearances. They have offered to increase their manpower in Dhaka to help protect human rights. The chief adviser also said that the proposal of the United Nations has been accepted.