Hasina, Tariq Siddiqui were involved in extrajudicial killings: Enforced disappearance commission report

Key political figures, such as Sheikh Hasina, General Tariq Siddiqui, the Home Minister, and other senior officials, were in the strategic layers and held the authority to order abductions and extrajudicial killings, said the Commission of Enquiry on Enforced Disappearance in its second interim report.

Below this was the executive layer, comprising senior generals and high-ranking members of the police and other security forces, said the report titled ‘Unfolding the Truth’.

Part of the report, which was made available to reporters by the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing on Monday, revealed that senior former military officers linked to enforced disappearances are now absconding, causing impediments to ensuring justice.

“These individuals directly received instructions from the political leadership and, as such, could serve as vital witnesses to their involvement. At the base is the functional layer, made up of lower-ranking personnel within the security apparatus who carried out the operations under orders from above,” the report added.

In the case at hand, the generals who headed DGFI, served as direct interlocutors between the armed forces and figures such as Sheikh Hasina and General Tariq Siddiqui when they ordered enforced disappearances, it added.

“For instance, General Akbar informed the Commission that he had directly discussed the case of Humam Quader Chowdhury, a known victim detained in the JIC, with Sheikh Hasina herself.”

“In one case, a junior DGFI officer recalled hearing his director speak about a detainee’s fate in a way that made clear Sheikh Hasina was informed of him and had expressed an opinion on the matter.”

“What surprised the Commission was the casual manner in which the remark was delivered, indicating that even in cases that did not appear especially significant, her involvement was understood to be direct and intentional,” the Commission said.

“Therefore, it is these senior officers, positioned between civilian command and military execution, whose testimony could best demonstrate that responsibility for these crimes rested at the highest levels of civilian authority.”

“Their testimony could have served a dual purpose: advancing truth and accountability, and protecting the institutional reputation of the security forces by clarifying that operational orders did not originate from within their hierarchy.”

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