The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Wednesday submitted its second interim report to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus with details of 鈥榟orrific stories鈥� of victims of inhuman torture by state forces during the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina.
More than 300 missing persons, who were victims of enforced disappearance during the ousted Awami League regime, were still unaccounted for, the members of the commission said after they handed over the report to Yunus at the state guest house Jamuna at about 11:00am.
The commission chief, former chief justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, accompanied by commission members Nur Khan, Sazzad Hossain, and Nabila Idris, submitted the report to the chief adviser, said a press release issued by the chief adviser鈥檚 press wing.
The commission members said that they had received 1,850 complaints so far, and, among them, they verified 1,350 complaints.
They also said that the number of complaints could exceed 3,500.
The chief adviser, after receiving the report, said that the report should be publicly available in both print and digital formats as there was interest surrounding it in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the globe.
鈥榃hat horrifying incidents these are! The so-called 鈥済entlemen鈥� of our society, our own relatives and acquaintances have committed these crimes,鈥� Yunus said, noting that there should be a horror museum based on the commission鈥檚 findings.
鈥楶eople should be shown what such detention cells are like. People should know the cruelty and brutality of being confined in a three-by-three-foot space for days and even months,鈥� he added.
He also instructed the commission to identify immediate measures and specify the ministries responsible for implementing the measures so that the government can begin the works within the shortest possible time.
One of the commission members told the chief adviser that the incidents were so severe that several officials involved had reached out to the commission out of remorse.
鈥楾wo officers even submitted written pleas for spiritual relief. These letters were found at Bangabhaban, and the then army chief publicly acknowledged their existence,鈥� the member said.
Meanwhile, chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam on Wednesday said that the intelligence wing of the Rapid Action Battalion had worked as a killing force in the incidents of enforced disappearances, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported.
He made the remark at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital, revealing the findings of the report submitted to the chief adviser.
A student-led mass uprising ousted the Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5, 2024, bringing an end to her 15-year rule.聽
In its first interim report submitted to the chief adviser on December 14, the commission found prima face involvement of Sheikh Hasina and some high-ranking officials of security forces and her government, including her defense adviser retired major general Tarique Ahmed Siddique in enforced disappearances.
It also found prima facie evidence of the involvement of Indian authorities in the system of enforced disappearance in Bangladesh.