Senior Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, yesterday assured his full support to the Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances and hopes that it can ensure that justice is served to the victims.

“We will provide you with all kinds of support you need,” the senior adviser told commission members at a meeting attended by several councilors and key officials at the Jamuna state guest house.

Committee members said they would provide the government with an interim report by mid-December.

Legal advisor Asif Nazrul said the government was ready to extend the commission’s mandate, even by two years, if necessary and issue necessary guidelines, including creating a legal provision to protect victims.

Commission chairman Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, a retired High Court judge, told the meeting that they had received some 1,600 complaints as of October 31, considered 400 complaints and interviewed 140 complainants.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of complaints. Many people still do not come before the commission, fearing retaliation from law enforcement. We can understand that the number of incidents is much higher than reported so far,” said a commission member.

The victims of enforced disappearances could be at least 3,500, he said, adding that they were working to identify the perpetrators of these crimes and who ordered them.

The commission member said many victims are in prison, some even facing the death penalty, because they were forced to make confessions in court after being arrested.

Some victims of disappearances are believed to be languishing in prisons in India, he added.

During the meeting, commission members requested government support to protect evidence found in the secret locations where the victims were held.

“Many victims told us that they had not seen the sun for years. They could only feel that it was a new day when breakfast was served,” said a member of the commission.

The MP called on the government to impose an injunction on the defendants’ foreign travel and, if possible, cancel their passports.

Home Advisor Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, who also attended the meeting, said they would do so once they received a list of accused by the commission.

Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to the senior advisor, stressed the importance of making the commission’s findings public and exposing those who oversaw the incidents of enforced disappearances.

Advisors Salehuddin Ahmed, Nurjahan Begum, Adilur Rahman Khan, M Sakhawat Hussain, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Hafiz, Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid and AC Principal Secretary Siraj Uddin Mia were present at the meeting, among others. .