Lips sewn, ears and genitals electrocuted: Inquiry commission reveals gruesome torture of enforced disappearance victims

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance has uncovered harrowing accounts of torture inflicted on victims of enforced disappearances in secret detention centres.

Its investigation revealed shocking methods of abuse, including sewing victims' lips shut, and subjecting their ears and genitals to electric shocks, according to the commission's first interim report.

The report, submitted yesterday (14 December) to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, said the accounts of torture are both profoundly brutal and disturbingly methodical.

In the report, the commission presented two examples to illustrate the nature and severity of the torture practices employed.

"In one instance in 2010, a young man was abducted by RAB [Rapid Action Battalion] from Dhanmondi. He reported that he was taken to a room where his lips were immediately sewn without the use of any anaesthetic. He described the procedure as being akin to stitching cowhide, underscoring the utter dehumanisation inflicted upon him," read the report.

In a separate incident eight years later, the report said a middle-aged man recounted that his genitals and ears were electrocuted.

"This torture took place at a RAB facility."

The report said detainees have reported witnessing officers calmly working at their desks or computers — screams of agony notwithstanding — within close proximity to the areas where torture was being perpetrated, suggesting a disturbing normalisation of such practices at these offices.

According to the report, the consistency in torture practices, despite the significant temporal and geographical separation between these cases, strongly suggests that such practices were not only systemic but also institutionalised across the security forces.

Based on the findings, the report noted that abductions typically occurred when individuals were approached on the streets or at their homes, usually at night. 

It said the abductors, oftentimes in plainclothes, identified themselves as "proshashoner lok" (representatives of the administration), law enforcement, or Detective Branch (DB) or RAB.

"Victims were also abducted from ferries, roadsides, or other public areas. They were often called by name before being forcibly pulled into large vehicles, typically 'Hiace' models," said the report.

It mentioned that victims were detained for varying periods, ranging from 48–60 hours to several weeks or months, and in some cases, up to eight years. 

Contrary to the perception that the victims were exclusively held in secret cells, interviews with survivors have revealed that many were detained in cells that also housed legal detainees, read the report.

"It underscores the deliberate attempts to disguise illegal detentions and  emonstrates the need for further inquiry into these practices."

During the reporting period, the commission said it conducted visits to 12 offices of various security forces in Dhaka and Chattogram to inspect interrogation rooms, detention facilities, and equipment; gather information and testimony; and meet with senior officials from law enforcement and security forces.

It also stated that so far, the commission has identified more than eight secret detention facilities operated by agencies such as the DGFI, RAB, and CTTC, where victims were held across the country.