The Commission of Enquiry on Enforced Disappearances president Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury on Thursday said that a group of individuals in the Armed Forces were involved in enforced disappearance, but not the three military services as institutions.
鈥楢rmed Forces, including Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Navy were not involved in the enforced disappearance as institutions. But, officers of the DGFI (Directorate General of Forces Intelligence), NSI (National Security Intelligence) and RAB [Rapid Actions Battalion], involved in the incidents of enforced disappearance, were officers of the Armed Forces,鈥� said Moyeenul, also a retired High Court Division judge.
He made the comments while responding to a question at a press conference at the commission office in the capital.
He said that DGFI and NSI used to report directly to the prime minister as DGFI falls under defense ministry, overseen by the ousted prime minister, and NSI was under the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office.
The commission member and human rights activist Nur Khan Liton said that the Bangladesh Army knew about the incidents of enforced disappearance but it was not involved in the incidents institutionally.
At a press conference at the Army Officers Mess in Dhaka Cantonment over an hour after the commission鈥檚 press briefing, the Inter Services Public Relation Directorate refused to take any question about the incidents of enforced disappearance.
The incidents of these enforced disappearances occurred during the Awami League regime between January 6, 2009 and August 5, 2024, according to the commission.
Justice Moyeenul said that they had so far found proof and documents of 253 incidents of enforced disappearance, out of 1,850 allegations.
鈥榃e have already submitted the second interim report to the chief adviser,鈥� he added.
He said that testimonies were remarkably consistent across time, geography, and experiences of 253 cases.
鈥楳ost of the 253 victims are the supporters of the opposition political parties. During detention in secret places, political questions were asked to many of the victims,鈥� Justice Moyeenul added.
Analysing the complaints filed with the commission, its chair Moyeenul mentioned four types of fates of the enforced disappearance victims.
The victims were either killed, or shown arrested in criminal cases or produced before the media with 鈥榚xtremist鈥� tags, or arrested by the Indian law enforcement agencies after they were pushed into India, or were released without filing any case.
鈥極f the complaints we have received so far, the victims of 81 per cent of incidents reappeared alive and that of 19 per cent of incidents remained missing,鈥� he said.
Speaking about their initiative to find missing victims, he said that they had sent three letters to the inspector general of police to find 131 missing victims.
He said that they had found 16 secret detention centres and most of the centres belonged to the RAB.聽聽
Commission members Sazzad Hossain and Nabila Idris, among others, were also present at the press conference.
