AN END to custodial torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killing and other abuses of power by law enforcement agencies was central to people鈥檚 aspirations in the post-uprising period. Yet, custodial torture continues. A man detained over the recent murder of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal leader died in the custody of the Detective Branch on November 21. The police claim that the public may have injured the victim during the arrest as he was allegedly trying to flee. On the day in Sirajganj, a 45-year-old man died in Sirajganj General Hospital while he was being treated in police custody. In February, a local leader of Juba Dal died in the custody of the army-led joint forces in Cumilla. Rights group Odhikar reported that at least 29 people fell victim to extrajudicial killing between August 9, 2024 and June 30, 2025, during tenure of the interim government. Of them, 11 were tortured to death. The interim government has repeatedly said that the abuse of power normalised during the fallen Awami League regime will not be tolerated, but its action remains business as usual, with no credible investigation of the allegations of custodial torture.
The interim government has signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, making Bangladesh a party to all nine core UN human rights treaties. 聽It has formed two commissions, the police reform commission and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, to investigate past abuses and propose reform recommendations. The government has also approved the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance 2025. These are foundational steps, but without translating policy decisions into action, the laws risk meeting the same fate as the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013. Since the custodial death prevention law came into force, cases have rarely been filed under it and there has been only one conviction. The only visible step that is taken is the change in the colour and design of the police uniform. All else remains the same. The interim government, too, initiated the investigation of some of the custodial deaths, but the results remain uncertain. What is needed is a credible investigation of all allegations of rights violations and legal accountability of the perpetrators. It is, otherwise, not possible to break the cycle of impunity that errant law enforcers have enjoyed for decades.
After the fall of the Awami League regime and in line with the aspirations of the people, it is expected that the government will ensure a credible investigation of the reported custodial death and send out a signal to errant members of the law enforcement agencies that the past tradition of abuse will no longer be tolerated.