In a chilling interim report submitted last Saturday to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government, the commission tasked with investigating the widespread incidents of enforced disappearances under the Awami League government has provided a harrowing account of torture and murder over the past fifteen years.

The document, titled “Unfolding the Truth”, sheds light on the systematic abuse that occurred following abductions, illustrating how various security forces not only subjected victims to brutal interrogations but also meticulously covered up the aftermath of their killings.

The commission, which has so far verified 758 out of 1,676 reported cases of enforced disappearances, has gathered testimonies from victims, witnesses, and implicated officers.

These accounts paint a grisly picture of torture techniques, some of which are described as nothing short of barbaric.

While the report does not shy away from revealing the appalling nature of these acts, it also notes a stark contrast between the methods employed by military personnel and those used by civilian law enforcement agencies, such as the Detective Branch (DB) and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) units of the police.

These civilian forces, according to the report, ran torture chambers within their detention centers, where the use of specialized instruments and tools—designed solely for inflicting pain—became routine.

Officers working in these units would engage in torture on a regular basis, often with a chilling sense of normalcy, as described by survivors and witnesses.

The investigation has exposed not only the horrific treatment of the victims but also the coordinated efforts to conceal the bodies of those murdered.

Horrific brutalities

Testimonies from victims of abductions provide a window into the routine brutality carried out in Bangladesh’s detention centers. Survivors describe a horrifying scene where, in close proximity to the cells, officers continued their daily tasks without flinching as the agonized cries of tortured detainees echoed in the background.

The indifference of these officers suggests that, for them, the suffering of prisoners had long ceased to shock or disturb. Torture had become a matter of course.

But the most disturbing practices, according to the interim report, were carried out in facilities controlled by the military.

Units like the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) operated clandestine detention centers, designed specifically to shield their operations from public knowledge.

These secret spaces were constructed to be soundproof, ensuring that the screams of victims were kept from reaching the outside world. Within these walls, prisoners were subjected to both physical and psychological torment, often using specialized instruments crafted solely for the purpose of inflicting pain.

For now, the commission has withheld detailed information about these hidden torture centers, citing the need for further investigation.

However, it has promised to release a comprehensive report that will reveal more about these facilities. In the meantime, the interim report offers two harrowing examples to convey the scale and severity of the abuse.

One incident, from 2010, involves a young man abducted from Dhaka’s Dhanmondi neighborhood by RAB. He was taken to a room where, without anesthesia, his lips were stitched shut.

Another case, from 2018, details the horrifying torture of a middle-aged man who was abducted and subjected to electric shocks to his genitalia and ears.

Both individuals endured extreme suffering in RAB-controlled detention centers.

The commission emphasizes that these two examples provide just a glimpse into the scale of abuse, underscoring the urgent need for systemic reform to address the institutionalized torture that has flourished under the current regime.

State-sponsored crimes

In the majority of cases, victims of enforced disappearance were either executed or handed over to the courts for criminal prosecution.

A small number of individuals were released without charges, and after the fall of the Awami League government following the student-led uprising on August 5, a few others were freed.

The commission has gathered disturbing evidence detailing how many of those abducted were ultimately killed. Autopsies conducted on the bodies of several disappeared individuals, once recovered, revealed that most had been shot in the head.

Military officers with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) revealed that, after execution, the bodies were often wrapped in cement sacks and disposed of in rivers.

The Buriganga and Shitalakkhya, both near Dhaka, were frequently used as sites for body disposal. The Postogola and Kanchan bridges were common locations for dumping the bodies, with a boat stationed near the Postogola Bridge for this grim task.

Officers were often directly involved in the killings. The commission spoke with a former RAB battalion commander, who recounted a chilling experience.

After joining the force, he was taken to a bridge by the head of RAB’s intelligence unit under the pretense of an “orientation.” There, he witnessed two individuals being shot and killed in front of him.

A military officer who had served in RAB’s intelligence branch shared another chilling account. One of the victims of enforced disappearance attempted to escape by jumping into a river from a bridge.

After rescuing the individual from the water, the officer watched as the man was killed on the spot.

The commission also uncovered additional methods of murder and body disposal used by the perpetrators. One military officer recounted being ordered to transport a body to a railway line in Dhaka.

He was instructed to place the body on the tracks so that it would be mutilated by an approaching train. After placing the body on the tracks, he and another officer waited in a vehicle for the train to arrive. Once the train passed and the body was torn apart, they simply drove away.

The commission has uncovered an account in which a victim of enforced disappearance was pushed in front of a moving car.

According to the survivor’s testimony, he was initially taken to a highway, where a police officer shoved him into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Miraculously, the car swerved and passed by him, allowing him to survive. The officer did not attempt to push him in front of another car, which ultimately spared the victim's life.

What stands out in these accounts is the variety of tactics employed by different forces to carry out the abductions and killings.

Yet, one constant remained across all cases: the clear intent to kill the victims. In some instances, bodies were disposed of in ways that made recovery or identification impossible.

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