The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Wednesday began the trial over enforced disappearances against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former defence adviser retired major general Tarique Ahmed Siddique, three former directors general of the Rapid Action Battalion, and 11 RAB directors deputed from the army.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, opened the trial by recording the testimony of Supreme Court lawyer and enforced disappearance victim Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman.
The trial of the 17 accused in this enforced disappearance case began two days after the same tribunal on Monday opened the trial of another enforced disappearance case against 13 people, including Hasina, Tarique, and 11 other serving and retired army officials deputed to the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.
Arman, who testified as the first prosecution witness in the case on Wednesday, is the son of executed war crimes convict Mir Quasem Ali and is one of the 11 victims who returned from a secret detention centre run by RAB-1 Taskforce cell at its headquarters in Dhaka after their enforced disappearance.
Arman told the tribunal that he was confined for eight years at a secret detention centre run by RAB-1’s Taskforce cell during the ousted Awami League regime.
His testimony began after chief prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam had placed his opening statement before the tribunal.
Tajul said that enforced disappearances of political dissenters were used as a tool by the Awami League to remain in power for long.
The tribunal set January 26 to complete Arman’s testimony and cross-examination.
The same date was also fixed for hearing review petitions filed by detained army officers challenging the tribunal’s December 23 order that rejected their discharge petitions.
The 10 accused army officers, who were then deputed in the RAB-1, are now detained and were present in the dock.
Seven other accused, including Hasina, Asaduzzaman, Tarique, a retired army officer and three former senior police officers, are still in hiding and facing the trial in absentia.
The detained army officers are Colonel KM Azad, Colonel Abdullah Al Momen, Brigadier General Md Mahbub Alam, Lieutenant Colonel Anwar Latif Khan, Brigadier General Md Jahangir Alam, Lieutenant Colonel Sarwar Bin Kashem, Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam Suman, Brigadier General Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Brigadier General Kamrul Hassan and Lieutenant Colonel Moshiur Rahman Jewel.
Besides Hasina, Kamal and Tarique, the other absconding accused are retired lieutenant colonel Muhammad Khairul Islam, a former RAB intelligence chief now believed to be living in the United Kingdom, and three former police officers - Benazir Ahmed, a former inspector general of police, Khurshid Hossain and barrister Harun-or-Rashid, all former RAB director generals during the Awami League regime.
Arman, in his testimony, said that he was picked up from his rented home in the capital’s DOHS area on the night of August 9, 2016, by seven or eight armed men who identified themselves as members of RAB-1.
He said that the men were wearing bulletproof vests marked ‘RAB-1’.
At the time, the Appellate Division was hearing his father’s review petition against the death sentence for war crimes.
Arman testified that when senior officials visited him, he was handcuffed behind his back and made to stand facing a wall so that he could not recognise the officers.
He said that he heard some visitors speaking in Hindi and talking on mobile phones, and noticed the smell of perfume.
He said he spent eight Ramadans during his confinement for eight years. He added that he wanted a copy of the Quran but was denied.
According to him, a guard once said that they could not provide it because a foreign intelligence officer of RAW had been staying there.
Arman testified that he was taken to a secret detention centre after his abduction and kept in a small cell on the first floor for 16 days while blindfolded and handcuffed. Later, he was shifted to another cell.
He said that only one of his hands was free for eating and using the toilet.
He said that he later identified the building after visiting the site with the chief adviser, members of the enforced disappearance commission, the ICT chief prosecutor, and investigators following the change of government on August 5, 2024.
Arman told the tribunal that he fell sick several times and underwent surgery for thigh swelling inside the detention facility.
He said he saw a wooden box marked ‘TFI’ and was once given an ointment tube labelled ‘Property of RAB HQ’.
During winter, he said that he was given a blanket marked ‘RAB’ or ‘INT’. From his cell, he said, he could hear aircraft landing, training activities, and the movement of vehicles.
Arman said that he was always blindfolded with military-style fabric. One night, the blindfold was changed to a gamcha, and his hands were tied with cloth.
He said that he was later put into a microbus, forced to lie on the floor, and someone sat on his body during the drive. After about 30 minutes, he was released.
Arman said that he walked after being dropped off, heard the call to prayer, offered prayers, and then realised that he was in the Diabari area of Uttara.
On Monday, the same tribunal started enforced disappearance trial of Hasina, Tarique Ahmed Siddique, and 11 other serving and retired army officials, who were deputed in the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence during the Awami League regime, for their alleged involvement in committing crimes against humanity, including abduction, detention and torture of 26 people with dissenting views against the Awami League at the DGFI’s secret detention Cells.
