An investigative commission on enforced disappearances in Bangladesh has revealed shocking evidence of secret detentions involving women and children under the administration of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Preliminary findings, released on Tuesday, detail the brutal practices of clandestine prisons where at least six children were held alongside their mothers, with infants reportedly used as leverage during interrogations.
The report uncovered cases as recent as 2023, including one where a pregnant woman and her two young children were detained, with the mother subjected to physical abuse in custody. In another instance, a couple and their baby were taken into custody, and interrogators deliberately denied the infant breast milk to coerce the father into compliance.
The notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a paramilitary force, was identified as running some of these detention centers. Testimonies from survivors included chilling accounts of torture, with one witness revisiting the site where she was detained as a child alongside her mother, who never returned.
Sheikh Hasina, 77, fled to India in August 2024 following a student-led revolution that ousted her government. Now facing arrest warrants for crimes against humanity, her administration is accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of hundreds.
Despite years of denying these allegations, the commission’s findings contradict Hasina’s claims, estimating that around 200 individuals remain missing after being abducted by security forces. The former government had previously dismissed reports of disappearances, attributing them to migration-related drownings in the Mediterranean. The report also highlighted the broader consequences of enforced disappearances, including severe psychological, legal, and financial hardships for the victims’ families.
Committee member Sazzad Hossain stressed the importance of survivor testimonies in establishing accountability, stating, “We will recommend holding commanders accountable where direct perpetrators cannot be identified.”
The revelations have intensified demands for justice as Bangladesh confronts the dark legacy of Hasina’s regime and the plight of those still missing.
