Mission

Mission:
To advance the global struggle against enforced disappearances by advocating for the universal ratification and full implementation of the Convention, empowering existing networks, and raising global awareness about this grave violation of human rights.

Vision:
“A world where enforced disappearances no longer exist.” In response to this national crisis, United for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (UVED) was founded as a platform rooted in truth, justice, and accountability. We advocate for the survivors—many of whom have been maimed, disabled, or psychologically impacted—as well as for those still missing and presumed dead. UVED also stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of individuals who have been extra judicially executed or permanently disappeared.

In a climate dominated by impunity and fear, UVED has emerged as a beacon of resistance and hope. It unites survivors, empowers families, and demands justice for the disappeared. Our members—spread across the country—are driven by a shared moral duty to confront state-sponsored violence, challenge systemic injustice, and end the culture of enforced silence. Through courageous advocacy, UVED continues its relentless struggle to restore dignity to the victims, accountability to the perpetrators, and the rule of law to a nation in crisis. UVED’s Commitment UVED stands in full solidarity with survivors and families of torture and enforced disappearances.

Objectives:
United for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (UVED) is a non-political, non-partisan, and non-profit organization committed to truth, justice, and dignity for the victims and survivors of enforced disappearances, custodial torture, and extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh.
Our mission is to amplify the voices of the voiceless, challenge systemic impunity, and demand accountability for grave human rights violations. We stand in solidarity with families still searching for their disappeared loved ones and support survivors who live with the lasting trauma of state-sponsored violence—regardless of political affiliation, belief, or background. UVED provides a safe, inclusive, and supportive space for survivors and victims’ families. We unite those affected, document abuses, advocate for meaningful legal reforms, and work to break the culture of enforced silence and fear.
Our members—spread across the country—are driven by a shared commitment to human dignity, truth, and justice. Guided by moral conviction and courageous advocacy, UVED stands as a beacon of resistance and hope in a grim national landscape. We will not rest until the fate of every disappeared person is known and every perpetrator held accountable.

Key Recommendations:
Problem Analysis:
1. Comprehensive Documentation and Identification:
• Victim-Centered Approach: Ensure the voices and needs of victims of torture and disappearances are at the heart of prevention and accountability strategies
• Establish a national, centralized database: of all known victims of enforced disappearances, custodial torture, and extrajudicial killings.
• Ensure documentation adheres to the Istanbul Protocol (2022 revision) for medico-legal evidence of torture.
2.  Grassroots Outreach and Survivor Support Centers:
• Establish seven regional offices to decentralize victim documentation, offer legal and psychological support, and provide secure, anonymous testimony channels.
• Build grassroots trust through culturally sensitive, trauma-informed outreach to families and survivors.
3. Legal Demands:
• Survivors and families of the disappeared—whether resurfaced or presumed dead—endure extreme financial hardship. The State must cover all legal expenses and guarantee access to top national and international legal representation. Victims must not be left defenseless against perpetrators enriched through illicit means. We call for the formation of a globally respected panel of senior lawyers to represent them in legal proceedings. Relevant UN bodies, together with the State, should ensure coordination, accountability, and bear full financial responsibility.
4. Implement Witness and Victim Protection Programme- To ensure the safety, dignity, and cooperation of survivors and key witnesses in cases of enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings, a comprehensive Witness and Victim Protection Programme must be established—guaranteeing physical security, psychological support, and legal safeguards against intimidation or retaliation.”
5. Justice Without Delay: Survivors and families of the disappeared—whether resurfaced or presumed dead—endure extreme financial hardship. The State must cover all legal expenses and guarantee access to top national and international legal representation. Victims must not be left defenseless against perpetrators enriched through illicit means. We call for the formation of a globally respected panel of senior lawyers to represent them in legal proceedings. Relevant UN bodies, together with the State, should ensure coordination, accountability, and bear full financial responsibility.
Expedite investigations, ensure prompt filing of charge sheets, and commence prosecutions.
• Arrest perpetrators—especially those still in law enforcement—and ensure victim-centered legal proceedings.
• End the culture of delayed justice—justice delayed is justice denied.
6. Rehabilitation and Restitution:
• Return confiscated property and unfreeze seized bank accounts belonging to victims and their families.
• Ensure access to housing, healthcare, education, and livelihood support.
• Issue official death and disappearance certificates to resolve legal uncertainty.
7. Legal Reform and Clemency:
• Amend draconian laws including the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Act, 2013 and the Special Powers Act, 1974.
• Grant clemency to those sentenced under controversial legal frameworks.
• Review and withdraw convictions based on coerced confessions and politically motivated charges.
Action Plan (Short-term & Long-term):
8. Accountability and Oversight:
• Prosecute individuals responsible for destroying evidence, including those who demolished secret detention facilities.
• Establish independent oversight bodies for law enforcement agencies RAB, CTTC, SWAT, BGB, SB and intelligence agencies DGFI and NSI.
• Publish a judicially supervised White Paper on enforced disappearances and torture.
• Disband the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)
9. Ratification of OPCAT and CAT Compliance:
• Immediately ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).
• Withdraw reservations to Articles 14(1) and 22 of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT).
• Create an independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in line with OPCAT obligations, with strong civil society involvement.
10. Survivor and Family Support:
• Provide specialized trauma therapy, medical care, and mental health support.
• Enable education, vocational training, and social reintegration.
• Protect survivors from retaliation, harassment, and social stigma.
11. Judicial and Law Enforcement Reform:
• End political interference in the judiciary and law enforcement.
• Reform police remand practices to prevent torture and coercion.
• Ensure magistrates act as safeguards—not enablers—of torture, and reject all forced confessions.
• Enhance investigative and forensic capacity with sustained international cooperation.
12. Reform the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC):
• Make the NHRC independent, proactive, and empowered to investigate and prosecute human rights violations perpetrated by law enforcement agencies
• Hold the NHRC accountable for inaction in the face of systemic abuses.
13. Adopt a Rehabilitation-Based Counterterrorism Strategy:
• Shift from militarized, punitive approaches to rights-based, community-centered deradicalization.
• Draw from successful models in Indonesia and Malaysia that emphasize rehabilitation, reintegration, and human dignity.
• Replace vengeance with justice—address the root causes of radicalization without violating civil liberties.
Build Forensic and Legal Capacity:
• Enhance institutional capabilities through sustained international assistance in forensic science, investigation, and judicial training.
• Ensure justice is evidence-based and transparent, centering the dignity and rights of victims.
14. Fully Enforce the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013:
Despite the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013, torture remains systemic and institutionalized. Weak oversight, entrenched political interference, and impunity have allowed law enforcement agencies to operate above the law. Victims face retaliation and an inaccessible justice system.
Since the Act’s enactment, no convictions have made it past the High Court.
Although Bangladesh ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 1998, its first report was only submitted in 2019. The UN Committee Against Torture raised serious concerns over arbitrary arrests, secret detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture—all of which remain largely uninvestigated.
• Document all torture allegations in line with the Istanbul Protocol.
• Amend the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013 to include reparations and ease the procedure of obtaining compensation.
• Prosecute law enforcers extracting coerced confessions using custodial torture.
• Prevent abuse of police remand, which often serves as a tool of intimidation.
• Require magistrates to protect detainees from being returned to conditions of torture.
• Regulate the use of firearms by law enforcement to comply with international human rights standards.
15. Torture Under the Pretext of Police Remand:
Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code permits magistrates to grant police remand, which in practice has become a gateway to torture and inhuman treatment. It is widely used to:
• Extract false confessions through physical and psychological abuse.
• Humiliate and degrade detainees.
• Persecute political dissidents and activists.
• Extort money from vulnerable individuals.
Torture is not just a crime—it is an assault on democracy and justice.
UVED expresses full solidarity with survivors and families of victims of torture and enforced disappearances.  We urge the national and international community to take unified and urgent action against torture and impunity in Bangladesh. Only through truth, justice, and accountability can a truly democratic, rights-respecting state be built.
 
 UVED’s Core Demands:
1. The State and relevant UN bodies must ensure accountability and cover all legal costs. Survivors and families of the disappeared face severe financial hardship and require full state support for legal representation. The State and relevant UN bodies must ensure accountability by covering all legal costs and forming a respected panel of senior lawyers to represent the victims.
2. End Impunity and Political Interference
• Revoke immunity for security forces.
• Ensure independent prosecution of state actors.
•Legally recognize enforced disappearances as crimes against humanity.
3. Abolish Capital Punishment to align with international human rights standards- UVED urges a general clemency for all death row inmates convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act and calls for the repeal of all death penalty provisions in the law to align with international human rights standards and the global move away from capital punishment.
4. Enforce Anti-Torture Law
• Fully implement the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013.
• Adhere to international standards, including the Istanbul Protocol.
5. Expedite Anti-Terror Trials:
 • Conclude anti-terror cases within one year. If unresolved, release the accused.
 • Reform the judiciary to reduce delays and improve public confidence.
 6. Strengthen International Accountability
•Ratify OPCAT and withdraw reservations to CAT Articles 14(1) and 22.
• Invite UN special rapporteurs to monitor compliance.

Conclusion:
The persistence of enforced disappearances and torture in Bangladesh is the result of political, legal, and institutional criminalization. A culture of impunity, state-sanctioned terror, and the absence of justice has created an environment where perpetrators operate without fear, and victims are permanently silenced. UVED is committed to breaking this silence.
We stand for truth, justice, and dignity—for the disappeared, the tortured, and their families. Through national and international advocacy, solidarity, and legal action, we are steadfast in our mission to end enforced disappearances in Bangladesh.  Let this be the beginning of a new era—where no one vanishes in silence, where justice is not denied, and where the dignity of every human being is protected by the rule of law.