The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has identified more than eight secret detention centers operated during the previous Awami League era by various security agencies in Dhaka and Chittagong.
"To date, we (the commission) have identified over eight secret detention facilities operated by agencies such as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC), where victims were detained across the country," stated the commission report.
The five-member commission, led by retired Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury, submitted its report titled "Unfolding the Truth" to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna on Saturday.
The commission chairman revealed the prima facie involvement of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and senior security officials, including her Defence Adviser Major General (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, in incidents of enforced disappearances. The report further implicated Major General Ziaul Ahsan (former Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre) and senior police officials Monirul Islam and Harunor Rashid in similar incidents.
The report stated that while some secret detention centres remain intact, others have been destroyed. The commission inspected twelve offices of various security agencies in Dhaka and Chittagong. These visits aimed to examine interrogation rooms, detention facilities, and torture equipment, collect testimonies, and meet senior law enforcement officials.
To preserve the integrity of the inquiry, the commission withheld specific details of these facilities, which will be included in a future report. However, they confirmed visits to locations including:
- Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI)
- Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC)
- Detective Branch Headquarters, Dhaka Metropolitan Police
- Detective Branch, Chittagong Metropolitan Police
- Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Units 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, and CPC 3
- RAB Headquarters
- Chittagong Central Jail
- National Security Intelligence, Chittagong Division
The report described the torture methods used as "profoundly brutal and disturbingly methodical," noting a stark difference between facilities run by military officers and those managed by civil forces.
In civilian facilities, such as those operated by DB and CTTC, torture was carried out routinely alongside regular office activities. The report mentioned:
"Detainees reported seeing officers calmly working at their desks, unbothered by the screams of agony from nearby torture rooms, highlighting the normalization of such practices."
Conversely, military-run facilities, such as those managed by RAB and DGFI, featured soundproof chambers and specialized torture equipment explicitly designed for inflicting both physical and psychological harm.
To illustrate the severity of these practices, the commission highlighted two cases:
- In 2010, a young man abducted by RAB from Dhanmondi had his lips sewn without anaesthesia, an act he likened to stitching cowhide.
- In 2018, a middle-aged man recounted being electrocuted on his genitals and ears at a RAB facility.
The consistency in torture methods across different facilities, times, and locations suggests that these practices were not isolated but rather systematic and institutionalized.
The commission has so far recorded 1,676 complaints of enforced disappearances, scrutinizing 758 cases. It estimates the actual number may exceed 3,500. As part of its recommendations, the commission called for the disbanding of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
While presenting the report, Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury stated that enforced disappearances were facilitated by a systematic design to keep the incidents undetected. He noted that another interim report will be released in March, with the full investigation requiring at least another year to complete.
