International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam today said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was detained and tortured at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) during the military-backed caretaker government in the 1/11 period.

He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after inspecting the JIC, an alleged detention facility at the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) headquarters in Dhaka this morning.

The tribunal judges, prosecution and defence lawyers also inspected the JIC.

Prosecutors said the visit was arranged as many victims of enforced disappearance were allegedly detained and tortured at the facility for prolonged periods.

Two crimes against humanity cases involving enforced disappearances are currently being tried before the tribunal against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and several former and serving army officers.

According to the prosecution, one of the alleged secret detention facilities is located at Kochukhet, while another is at the headquarters of Rab-1 in Uttara. On August 1, the tribunal judges visited the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) Cell, an alleged secret detention facility, or "Aynaghar", at the Rab-1 headquarters in Dhaka.

Earlier, Aminul Islam requested the tribunal to inspect the alleged secret detention centres, arguing that such visits were necessary for a fair adjudication of the cases.

At an earlier press briefing, the chief prosecutor said judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had also conducted similar site visits during trial proceedings.

Referring to the tribunal's Rules of Procedure, he said judges are empowered to inspect any place if they consider such a visit necessary in the interest of a fair trial.