Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance in its primary investigation has found the involvement of DGFI, RAB, DB, CTTC, CID and general police with the enforced disappearances and it is going to interrogate the security personnel concerned from November 7.
“We cannot tell you the exact number of security personnel, whose involvement was found so far, but we have found the involvement of DGFI, RAB, DB, CTTC, CID and general police men. We are going to interrogate the relevant security personnel from November 7 and we have already issued summons on seven people for the first day of questioning. We may summon three personnel the next time, then seven, then five more, and this will continue,” commission chairman Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury said at a press briefing at the commission's auditorium in the capital on Tuesday.
The inquiry commission also announced the discovery of eight secret detention centres, more horrific than the Aynaghor in Dhaka and its surrounding areas where detained people were reportedly tortured during the Awami League regime.
“Eight secret detention centers more horrific than ‘Aynaghor’ have been detected,” Chowdhury said.
Justice Chowdhury said the commission so far received more than 1,600 complaints, of which 400 have already been scrutinised.
Of the 400 allegations, of which 172 are linked to RAB, 37 are linked to the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, 26 are linked to the Directorate General Forces Intelligence, 55 are linked to the Detective Branch, 25 are linked to the police and 68 are ‘others’.
“We have so far scrutinised 400 complaints and interviewed 140 people in this regard. There is a detail guideline on how to arrest an accused, but that was not followed. They were supposed to produce the accused before the court within 24 hours of the arrest, but the accused were kept confined for days, months, even year after year,” he added.
The commission chairman further said most cases of enforced disappearances had political motives. But many became victims of enforced disappearance because of the personal decision of security personnel, he continued.
Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury said the commission has failed to identify more than 200 victims of enforced disappearance.
The government on August 27 had formed the five-member commission to identify and find out the people made disappeared forcibly by the law enforcement agencies from January 6, 2009 to August 5, 2024.
Led by retired judge of the High Court Division Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, the other members of the commission are Justice Farid Ahmed Shibli, human rights activists Nur Khan and Sazzad Hossain, and BRAC University teacher Nabila Idris.
"We found a cell operated by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) measuring just 3.5 by 4 feet. There was no source of light except a small peephole, and no sanitation system except for a drain, forcing the inhabitant to perform all basic functions there. People had been confined in such cells for years,” Nur Khan Liton, a member of the commission, said while briefing at its office.
The commission raised concerns about ‘attempts to destroy evidence’ linked to these secret cells.
“Law enforcement agencies are destroying cells and walls. Those involved in this destruction will likely be unwilling to cooperate. Current officers will become complicit in the crimes of their past officers,” said Nabila Idris, another member of the commission.
