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UN group records
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held forcibly and arbitrarily when the communication was sent to the government.
Although the cases remain unsolved, it is not clear whether the two were released or still remain forcibly disappeared.
A discussion on all the cases will begin at the 128th UN Working Group session tomorrow. It will continue till September 28.
The UN Working Group annual report states that it sent four letters to Bangladesh on various grounds.
One was an urgent appeal to ensure that an unidentified detained person’s rights, life and liberty be maintained, and that they be allowed fair proceedings before an independent and impartial tribunal.
Another was a prompt intervention letter addressing allegations of harassment of and threats to human rights defenders and relatives of the disappeared persons in Bangladesh.
The group also sent a “joint allegation letter” written with other special procedure mandate holders, and a general allegation letter relating to obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
According to the documents made public, some of the letters sent by the Working Group include one expressing concerns over the allegations that police were harassing the families of the victims of enforced disappearance, while one sought information about the judicial harassment of the NGO Odhikar.
The documents show that the government had responded to the letter, denying police harassment wholly.
“The Working Group urges the authorities to redouble efforts to provide additional information, including replying to its related general allegation transmitted after its 125th session, with a view to clarifying all outstanding cases, and to launch independent and impartial investigations into the conduct of the Rapid Action Battalion, particularly as it concerns allegations of enforced disappearances perpetrated by its agents,” said the report.
“The Working Group further emphasises that the Government of Bangladesh must ensure that relatives of disappeared persons and human rights defenders and civil society organizations working on their behalf are protected from any threat, intimidation or reprisals.
“In this respect, the Working Group is particularly concerned that the Government has decided not to renew the registration of Odhikar, a prominent human rights organisation, which documents cases of human rights violations, including enforced disappearances,” stated the annual report.
It reminded that all persons involved in the investigation, including the complainant, counsel, witnesses and those conducting the investigation, must be protected against ill-treatment, intimidation or reprisal.
The group reiterated its interest in undertaking a visit to Bangladesh and said that it had sent several communications in this regard since 2013.
Government representatives from Bangladesh attended the 126th session of the Working Group held last February, said the report.
The annual report will be presented to the Human Rights council on September 20.

16 school children die in S Africa crash
AFP, JOHANNESBURG
At least 16 school children were killed died Friday when a minibus collided with a truck along a South African highway around 300 kilometres north of Durban, a regional government said.
The provincial KwaZulu-Natal transport ministry reported 16 deaths from the collision.
Local media reported a toll of 19 children - aged between five and 12 years - plus three adults.
“The death of so many young lives is a serious tragedy,” regional transport minister Sipho Hlomuka said in a statement.
The accident occurred in the Pongola area, near the border with Eswatini.
South Africa’s roads are among the most developed on the continent, but safety remains an issue with most accidents blamed on reckless driving.