Abolition of RAB, reform of intelligence agencies recommended

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances made wide-ranging recommendations for institutional and legal reforms to put an end to enforced disappearances and human rights violations, including the abolition of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the withdrawal of the armed forces from internal law enforcement duties.

These recommendations were placed in the final report of the enforced disappearance investigation commission. The chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances retired justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury presented findings of the investigation report at a press conference in Gulshan, Dhaka on Monday.

Prior to this, the commission submitted the final report to chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus on Sunday. The commission had also submitted two interim reports earlier.

Replying to a query at the press conference, Mainul Islam Chowdhury said every intelligence agency requires reform. What do intelligence agencies in this country do? They interfere in politics. Why do they interfere? Because they want to be part of power, he said.

The commission chief further said that the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) went on behalf of S Alam to take over Islami Bank. Was that DGFI’s job? Or is taking over a media house the job of DGFI or any intelligence agency? he asked, adding that intelligence agencies were misused in various ways. Ending such practices would require political will.

Replying to another query, retired justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury said, “DGFI must exist. Intelligence agencies must exist; but they need to be reformed. Their SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) or the ‘green book’ must also be changed. We are suggesting reforms so that DGFI does not abandon its assigned responsibilities to engage in other activities.”

The final report said a total of 1,913 complaints were submitted to the commission. Of these, 231 complaints were filed multiple times and 113 were dismissed after verification as falling outside the definition of enforced disappearance. As a result, 1,569 complaints remained under the commission’s active consideration. Among them, 251 people remain missing (whose whereabouts have not yet been traced), and the bodies of 36 victims were recovered after disappearance.

At the press conference, commission member Sazzad Hossain said that a total of 40 detention centres or secret prisons have been identified across the country, of which 22–23 belonged to RAB. He also said that after the commission began its work, RAB destroyed the most evidence related to enforced disappearances.

In this context, the Commission has made several recommendations, including the abolition of RAB. Other recommendations include repealing or fundamentally amending the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009; formulating community-based preventive counterterrorism policies; repealing Section 13 of the Armed Police Battalions Act, 2003; bringing all forces under strict legal accountability; mandatory human rights training; ensuring victim-centred justice, compensation and rehabilitation; and transforming ‘Aynaghar’ facilities into museums as symbols of truth, memory and accountability.

During the one-and-a-half-decade rule of the Awami League before it was ousted through a mass uprising, many people were killed after being forcibly disappeared, and their bodies were dumped in the Baleshwar River in Barishal and in Patharghata of Barguna. In addition, an unclaimed burial ground has been found in Munshiganj, where victims of enforced disappearance were buried.

Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury said that to determine the fate of missing persons, the commission inspected potential crime scenes, pick-up points, Aynaghar facilities, and dumping sites (where bodies were disposed of) in various districts. In Munshiganj, an unclaimed burial ground was found where victims of enforced disappearance appear to have been buried. This is evident from post-mortem reports, which show that the buried bodies had gunshot wounds to the head and their hands were tied behind their backs.

The commission chairman further said that dumping sites were found in the Baleshwar River in Barishal and in Patharghata of Barguna. The Commission initiated the process by exhuming two bodies in Barishal and conducting DNA tests. Later, discussions were initiated with Anjuman Mufidul Islam to identify unidentified bodies.

The Commission has undertaken initiatives to identify unidentified and unclaimed bodies through DNA testing and has recommended establishing a comprehensive DNA database in line with international standards.

At the press conference, the commission said RAB was implicated in about 25 per cent of enforced disappearance allegations, followed by the police at 23 per cent. In addition, DB, CTTC, DGFI and NSI were involved in enforced disappearances on a large scale. In many cases, abductions were carried out by individuals identifying themselves as plainclothes officers or “people from the administration.” The nature of the allegations clearly indicates that enforced disappearance was carried out as an institutional and systematic practice through solo and joint operations by RAB, police and intelligence agencies. These incidents suggest coordinated state action rather than isolated misconduct.

Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury said that, with the aim of investigating and resolving cases of those who never returned, some complaints were sent in four phases to the Inspector General of Police (IGP). At the same time, separate letters were sent seeking necessary action after investigating allegations of enforced disappearances lasting two to five days involving law enforcement agencies. The National Human Rights Commission has been instructed to be informed of progress within six months.

At the press conference, the commission chief said information was collected from superintendents of police of border districts and sector commanders of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) regarding individuals pushed into Bangladesh from India after 5 August 2024. No names of enforced disappearance victims were found in that data. However, the commission’s investigation revealed a specific incident in which Mohammad Rahmat Ullah, a victim of enforced disappearance from Dhamrai in Dhaka, was pushed into Bangladesh through the Gomastapur border in Chapainawabganj on 22 December 2024.

Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Commission received lists of 1,052 Bangladeshi citizens detained in Indian prisons in the first phase and 3,285 in the second phase. After verification, no names of enforced disappearance victims were found. As some information in the lists was incomplete and unclear, letters were sent to the relevant authorities seeking clarification and updated information. The National Human Rights Commission has been asked to be informed of progress on those letters.