Enforced disappearance victims depict horrific torture in secret detention cells

Harrowing tales of torture including "waterboarding" was inflicted on victims of enforced disappearance in secret detention cells run by RAB (Rapid Action Battalion).

This information emerged in the second interim report of the commission investigating enforced disappearances. On 4 June, the report titled “Unfolding the Truth: A Structural Diagnosis of Enforced Disappearance in Bangladesh” was handed over to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

The report analysed about 1,850 complaints and presented information on 253 victims of enforced disappearance, according to the commission.

The report contains chilling accounts of many people who disappeared at the hands of law enforcement and security agencies. The victims spoke of being kept in unsanitary cells, being beaten while hung upside down, having their nails pulled out, suffering electric shocks, and being tortured in various ways — including being strapped into a spinning chair.

In most cases, no written records were kept of these disappearances, abductions, or detentions. As a result, the perpetrators evaded accountability, the report notes.

Earlier, on 14 December last year, the commission submitted its first interim report. That report detailed who was involved in enforced disappearances during the 15 years of the Awami League government, how the abductions took place, and how victims were tortured or killed.

A 27-year-old man, detained by RAB-10 in 2017 for 39 days, said in his testimony, “They started pouring water over a towel covering my face. They poured a whole jug of water on my face. I was suffocating. Then they removed the towel and said, ‘What were you doing?’ I said, ‘Sir, what can I say? Please tell me why you brought me here.’ They said, ‘That won’t do. Put the towel back, pour water again.’ They did this three or four times, then asked others to take me away.”

This torture method was a regular practice. And he wasn’t alone — many others recounted similar horrific experiences.

Victims said they were kept for days in unsanitary cells — small, dark rooms where the eating area and toilet were the same. When they lay down to sleep, their bodies rested over the toilet pan. Continuous surveillance was maintained via CCTV, even while they used the toilet — causing extreme humiliation and shame.

Multiple testimonies described spinning devices in the cells. The commission confirmed the existence of two types of such machine. One was a spinning chair used at RAB’s Taskforce for Interrogation Cell (TFI).
Victims said they were strapped into the chair and spun at high speed — causing vomiting, loss of bladder or bowel control, or unconsciousness.
At the DGFI-controlled Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), an even more horrific spinning device was used, designed to spin the entire body rather than just a chair.

Women faced particularly shameful and severe abuse. A 25-year-old woman detained by the police in 2018 testified, “They tied my hands and forced me to face the window. Without my scarf, male officers came and stared at me. They said things like, ‘Such purdah before, totally stripped off now.’”

She added, “Once they tortured me so much that my period started. When I asked for a pad, the officers laughed at me.”

In 2015, a 46-year-old man was detained for 391 days by various law enforcement agencies. Describing the torture he endured, he said, “They wouldn’t let me sleep. After interrogations, they would take away my pillow. In winter, they would remove both the blanket and pillow. They made me sit with my weight on my bare feet, without a chair. Sometimes they would handcuff me and chain me to the bed. Even when mosquitoes bit me, I couldn’t swat them. That’s how they punished me.”

The report states that severe beatings were the most common method of torture. Almost every victim experienced extensive physical assault. Even those who weren’t subjected to any “special” torture were brutally beaten. In many cases, victims were beaten while hanging upside down. This kind of torture was more common among the police than the military.

Sometimes medicines or ointments were used to conceal the marks of torture. Victims would not be brought before the public until their wounds were hidden. The report notes that after release, many victims appeared before magistrates still bearing visible signs of torture — but often those marks were ignored.

The report also states that victims of enforced disappearance were often given little food. They were kept handcuffed, blindfolded, and isolated in solitary cells. The uncertainty about their fate created a constant and unrelenting psychological pressure.

Even after release, most victims suffered long-term psychological trauma. Many saw their education, careers, or marriage prospects ruined. Some required medical treatment. Fake cases filed against them cost families an average of Tk 700,000.

A 16-year-old abducted by RAB’s intelligence unit and RAB-3 in 2019 was held for 20 months and 13 days. His father said, “…(after he came back) he would just sit quietly, then suddenly get angry. If someone asked him something, he would slap them… now he just laughs to himself. He doesn’t speak and respond properly. He’s not like he was before.”

He said his son does not want to take medicine.

The father of the 16-year-old said he does not even have the money required to hire a lawyer for battle the case.

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances was formed on 15 September last year. It began work to trace, identify, and document the circumstances of the disappeared.

Commission member and human rights activist Sazzad Hossain told Prothom Alo, “The reality is far worse that we had imagined about the torture of disappeared persons. It’s unimaginable if you don’t hear from the victims! No form of torture was spared. They tortured people until they were on the brink of death.”