Bangladesh's interim government signs UN treaty on enforced disappearances

Bangladesh's new administration has signed the instrument of accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, local paper The Daily Star reported on Thursday.

The signing was led by the country's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus that took place during the weekly meeting of the interim government's advisory council, the newspaper said.

Yunus called the signing of the UN convention "a historic occasion".

The move comes after Bangladesh's new authorities on Wednesday opened an investigation into the alleged abduction of hundreds of people by security forces during the rule of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina.

It included the notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) paramilitary force, accused of numerous rights abuses, and which was sanctioned by the United States for its role in extrajudicial killings and abductions.

The five-member committee, headed by a retired high court judge, will also investigate other paramilitary police units, including the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Human Rights Watch last year said security forces had committed "over 600 enforced disappearances" since Hasina came to power in 2009, and nearly 100 remain unaccounted for.

Many of those detained were from Hasina's rivals, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest religious party.

Hasina's government consistently denied the allegations, claiming some of those reported missing had drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe.

Hasina fled to India by helicopter on August 5 after weeks of student-led protests forced her to quit, ending her 15-year rule.