The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances said on Thursday that it had received about 400 complaints of enforced disappearances from the victims and their families since September 15.
The commission chief and a former High Court Division judge, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, addressing a press conference at the commission office in the capital鈥檚 Gulshan area, said that the incidents of these enforced disappearances occurred during the Awami League regime between January 6, 2009 and August 5, 2024.
He said that the commission had found the existence of a Joint Interrogation Cell, popularly known as 鈥楢ynaghor鈥�, in the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence headquarters premises and there were 22 cells for the detainees there.
He said that they were getting great responses and that they received 400 complaints in 13 working days between September 15 and October 2.
鈥榃e have already recorded statements of 75 people,鈥� said Moyeenul.
He said that the persons whose statements were recorded include suspended Brigadier General Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, a son of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam, and Humam Quader Chowdhury, a son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
Moyeenul said that most of the victims of enforced disappearance blamed Rapid Action Battalion, DGFI and Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 detective branch and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit for their enforced disappearances.
鈥榃e visited DGFI鈥檚 Aynaghor on September 25 and the secret cells of DB and CTTC on October 1. We found no detainee there. We assumed that they might be released after August 5,鈥� he said.
Though the deadline for submitting allegations of enforced disappearances was initially set as September 30, the deadline was extended to October 10, he said.
Referring to their visit to Aynaghor, the commission member Sazzad Hossain said, 鈥榃e have found similarities to the victims鈥� descriptions on Aynaghor. Some changes were made and many evidences were destroyed. Especially, they (DGFI) had removed writings on the walls using paints.鈥�
He said that the commission asked DGFI not to make any changes in Aynaghor.
Human rights activist Nur Khan Liton, also a member of the commission, said that they did not want to categorise the victims.
鈥榃e want to hear everyone鈥檚 complaint and want to know what happened with them. We want to understand how they were kept in secret detention centres violating the laws of the land,鈥� Nur added.聽聽
Another member of the commission and BRAC University teacher Nabila Idris said that most of the allegations were new as police stations did not register any general diary in connection with the incidents.
鈥榃e urge all the victims and their families to submit complaints. If they are unable to come in person, they can send complaints through email and post offices,鈥� Nabila added.
Responding to a question, the commission chief Moyeenul said that the country鈥檚 penal code needed to be amended to incorporate the enforced disappearance issue.
Justice Farid Ahmed Shibli, a member of the commission, was also present.