The Human Rights Watch (HRW) found involvement of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasian and top officials of her administration in the events of enforced disappearances.
The organization said: “Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Major General Ziaul Ahsan and several top officials of Bangladesh Police were supervising it.”
The information came to light it the 50-page report titled “After the Monsoon Revolution: A Roadmap to Lasting Security Sector Reform in Bangladesh” of the US-based organization.
National Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances has published the report on 14th December. The report states: “More than three thousand individuals were victim of Enforced Disappearances.”
And now the HRW said that Hasina and high rank officials of her administration were aware of it.
Three were freed from the secret detention cell after Hasina fled to India but the authorities had been denying it for years.
Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem, one of the victims, said: “The place where he was held was ‘perfectly designed to give detainees an experience worse than death’.”
The inquiry commission report said the pattern of torture was not only systematic but also institutional.
HRW said in its report that “the government should act on the recommendations of the inquiry commission to dismantle the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a counter-terrorism unit made up of police and military officers responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances.”
HRW said in response to the report that RAB DG AKM Shahidur Rahman had admitted the presence of secret detention centers and said that RAB would accept the decision if the interim government wanted to disband the unit.
Noting that Bangladesh has a long history of divisive politics, which can seep into law enforcement agencies, HRW said the interim government should establish independent civilian oversight of law enforcement through the National Human Rights Commission, with the authority to conduct unannounced inspections of all places of detention.
It should also apply international standards to the use of force, making it clear that any member of the security forces who violate the law will be held accountable.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
