More than 1,600 complaints have been submitted to the commission formed by the government to investigate incidents related to disappearances in a month and a half. Out of these, 383 complaints were verified by the commission, of which 172 were against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, president of the commission, presented this information at a press conference in Gulshan of the capital on Tuesday. He said that among the verified complaints, 37 were against DMP's counter-terrorism unit, 55 against DB, 26 against DGFI, 25 against police and 68 others. The commission of inquiry found eight secret detention centers in and around Dhaka.
Justice Mainul said, 'Summons are being issued to call law enforcement officers to investigate the complaint. So far seven people have been called, all of whom are law enforcement and DGFI members. Stating that the commission has interviewed 140 people regarding the allegations, he said, "While investigating the allegations, eight secret detention centers of these forces were found, where the missing persons were kept and tortured for years."
The head of the commission said, 'The Supreme Court had specific instructions on what to do during the arrest around 2016. But it can be assumed that under the influence of the political leadership, the law and order forces have violated that directive.
Asked why the victims went missing, he said, 'There are some people who apparently had no political identity. Some have criticized the government in various media. It was not understood why those who were missing from the army. For example, Colonel Hasin went missing twice. Once while he was in service, once after retirement. It is very difficult to understand why he did it. But I have not yet received any complaint of disappearance due to personal grudge.'
Pointing out that it is difficult to say how many people are missing at the moment, Justice Mainul said, 'There are also cases, who took them - that could not be identified. The secret prisons where torture was carried out have been demolished and the evidence destroyed. However, it has been warned that those who destroy the evidence will be considered as accomplices of those involved in the disappearance. It is requested not to destroy the sign.'
Human rights activist Noor Khan, a member of the commission, described a mirror or secret prison of RAB and said, "We have seen how cruelly people are kept in the prison." There are also cases where the urinal-toilet area of the prisoner is inside the three and a half feet by four feet room. In between, months after months, years after years were kept. Those rooms were closed. There was no light and air. There was only a small hole, which was always closed. Sometimes it was opened to see the prisoner. There was a drainage system, where the prisoner had to urinate and take a shower.
He said, "We have found evidence of how a person writes a diary or writes his signal while he is missing, how he counts the days." We heard that a cell worse than the mirror room was near us. We have visited them.
During the question and answer session, the president of the commission said that among the prisons visited are DGFI, Uttara RAB-1, RAB headquarters, Narayanganj RAB-11, Mohammadpur RAB-2, Agargaon RAB-2 Crime Prevention Center and DB office.
When asked if any involvement of the neighboring countries was found with the disappearance, the president of the commission said that they are looking into the matter.
Justice Mainul said that many victims of disappearance have returned. The family does not know the news of many, we did not get it either. Bangladesh became independent about 53 years ago. But unfortunately good governance has not been established in this country. As you know, judges are the trustees of the sovereign judicial power of the state. Similarly, ministers are trustees of the sovereign executive power of the state. Members of Parliament are trustees of the legislative power of the state. If these three classes of people were to work smoothly as trustees, the face of the country would have changed. Unfortunately that didn't happen. It is our collective failure. Now the question naturally arises, who will purify politics? Politicians are responsible for purifying politics. Only honest, unsophisticated, characterful, patriotic and skilled politicians can purify politics.'
The commission president said that the law enforcement forces have been used for personal, group, party and political purposes in many cases instead of national interest or public interest. This results in the creation of a mirror. Mirrors have come on social media. But in RAB-1 it is called Task Force Interrogation Cell, Joint Interrogation Cell in DGFI. There are other secret detention centers in different places under different forces.
During the Awami League government, the government constituted a five-member commission of inquiry under the leadership of retired Justice Mainul on August 27 to investigate the disappearances by the law and order forces. After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, there were reports of the release of three people from the 'mirror' or secret prisons of various government agencies. The commission will take into account the events of January 6, 2009 to August 5 last.
