Custodial deaths have occurred under every government over the past two and a half decades, speakers said at a discussion marking the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

They also demanded a robust legal framework to end torture in custody.

At the event, organised by human rights organisation Odhikar at the National Press Club, its Director of Programmes, Md Sazzad Hussain, presented the organisation’s statistics, according to which 486 custodial deaths due to torture were recorded in the country between 2001 and June 22, 2026.

During the BNP government’s tenure from October 10, 2001, to October 28, 2006, the organisation documented 184 custodial deaths, accounting for approximately 38 percent of the total.

This was followed by a brief transitional caretaker government from October 29, 2006, to January 10, 2007, during which six deaths were recorded.

Subsequently, the military-backed caretaker government, which held power from January 11, 2007, to January 5, 2009, recorded 42 custodial deaths.

The highest number of custodial deaths occurred under the Awami League government from January 6, 2009, to June 2024, during which 213 deaths were recorded, accounting for about 44 percent of the total. The figure, however, excludes the July martyrs.

Following the political transition, the interim government recorded 29 custodial deaths between August 9, 2024, and February 17, 2026.

Under the current BNP administration, two additional custodial deaths were documented between February 18 and June 22, 2026.

Taskin Fahmina, director of Training and Advocacy at Odhikar, said the organisation’s statistics also showed 4,289 cases of extrajudicial killings between 2001 and June 22, 2026.

Imtiaz Hossain Rocky, a survivor of custodial torture, said he has been fighting for Tk 2 lakh in compensation for the last 12 years.

On February 7, 2014, a police team led by then sub-inspector Jahidur Rahman Khan picked up Rocky and his brother, Ishtiaque Hossain Jonny, from the capital’s Pallabi Irani Camp area, along with several others attending a pre-wedding programme.

They were tortured inside Pallabi Police Station for around two and a half hours, and Jonny lost consciousness. He was taken to a local clinic, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Despite facing immense hurdles, Rocky remains one of only a handful of individuals in the country who have successfully filed a lawsuit against those responsible under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013.

After more than a decade of legal proceedings, Rocky said the case has progressed through only two tiers of the judicial system.

“The only reason I am still holding on to this case is because of the support of human rights organisations.”

Azizul Haque Islamabadi, the central organising secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam, described enduring brutal custodial torture during a 35-day remand in police custody.

According to him, the ordeal included being deprived of water for three consecutive days, being forced to stand for nine hours at a time, and enduring repeated severe physical beatings.

“I was made to stand from 9:00am to 5:00pm during one remand session. Then I was kept in an 8-by-8-foot holding cell where 23 of us were made to stay together.”

MA Muhaimen Pulak, a 37-year-old private job holder, addressed the audience while wearing a leather eye patch after a pellet injury cost him the sight in his left eye during the July Uprising.

“I am now fighting to retain the sight in my other eye. Such torture leaves survivors with lifelong trauma. I have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and am heavily medicated.”

Momtaz Begum, mother of Sheikh Shahriar Bin Matin, who died at the age of 18 after being shot by police during the July Uprising, broke down in tears as she described how he suffered a gunshot wound to the eye.

“Following his death, his father left me, and I am now fending for myself and our 10-year-old daughter.”

Speakers demanded holistic reparations and compensation for victims of custodial torture to help them cope with the lasting physical and psychological effects.

“The entire criminal justice system is built on torture. Torture begins from the moment of arrest and continues throughout the trial. If you have ever visited the holding cells on court premises, where the accused are kept, you would realise how torture is perceived,” said Advocate Shishir Manir at the discussion.

ICT Prosecutor Tanveer Zoha, Jatiya Mukti Council chief Faizul Hakim Lala, and UN Human Rights Officer Zahid Hossain, among others, also spoke.