What we saw was far from humanity: CA Yunus visits Aynaghar at DGFI
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has expressed his dismay upon visiting three locations in Dhaka which were previously used as torture cells and secret detention centres commonly referred to as "Aynaghar" this morning (12 February).
"That a thing such as humanity exists, [Aynaghar] has taken it too far from that [and] erased it entirely…It all appears so atrocious and we are in disbelief," he told reporters after visiting the sites in Agargaon, Kachukhet, and Uttara.
Joining him were Advisers Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Adilur Rahman Khan, among others.
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He was also accompanied by members of the advisory council, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, victims, and representatives from local and international media.
"Some of the people who fell victim to the torture at Aynaghar are with us here, and we've heard from them what they faced. Such events are inexplicable. Baseless with no absolute reason.
"People were simply picked up from the streets and framed as criminals and terrorists [when they were taken to the Aynaghar]."
The chief adviser also expressed shock that such "torture cells" are spread out across the country where people would be taken and subjected to torture. "I was under the impression that it existed perhaps only here. Now I've got to know that different versions of Aynaghar exist countrywide. Some say there are 700 cells, others say 800. The number of such cells have yet to be determined, as there are some known, while others yet to be discovered."
Lauding the efforts by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, he said their reports helped extract how an individual could be stripped off their basic human rights through violations, among other offences, through these crimes.
He further said upon his visitation of one such torture cell, this now stands as a major documentation with the media and the interim government as witnesses.
Earlier on 6 February, it was decided at the Advisory Council meeting that the chief adviser, along with local and foreign media, would visit Aynaghar.
Aynaghar, located within the headquarters of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) in the capital's Kachukhet area, has been described as an infamous detention centre containing around 22 cells.
The information was documented by the commission investigating enforced disappearances during the Awami League government's tenure.
Reports indicate that state forces forcibly abducted individuals from various backgrounds and detained them at undisclosed locations, which later became known as "Aynaghar" following a report by Sweden-based news outlet Netra News.
According to allegations, 605 people were secretly imprisoned between 2009 and September 2021 under Sheikh Hasina's rule. Many who had disappeared returned to their families after the change in government, with their testimonies revealing the conditions inside Aynaghar.
