Bangladesh Inquiry Details Use of Anti-Terrorism Law Against Disappearance Victims

198 of 309 disappearance victims faced terrorism charges

Bangladesh's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 was used against 198 of 309 victims of enforced disappearance examined by a commission of inquiry, making it the most frequently invoked law in that group. The commission's findings describe a system in which people were secretly detained, subjected to abuse and then prosecuted, often on the strength of confessions they said they had been forced to give.

The inquiry was established after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government in August 2024. Its findings connect the actions of police, intelligence agencies and other security forces with failures in the courts, showing how a law intended to combat terrorism became a means of suppressing political opponents and dissent.

The commission's second interim report carries a June 2024 submission date, which conflicts with the establishment of the inquiry after August 2024. The submission date therefore remains unclear. As of June 16, 2025, the wider findings describe extensive allegations of secret detention, torture, fabricated cases and continuing uncertainty for families.

The commission recorded more than 1,676 complaints and verified and reviewed more than 1,350 cases of enforced disappearance. At least 345 people remained missing. Those figures describe different stages of the inquiry's work: complaints received, cases examined and people whose whereabouts were still unknown.

An enforced disappearance involves more than an arrest. A person is taken into custody and their detention or whereabouts are concealed, leaving relatives unable to find them and the detainee unable to use ordinary legal protections. For those who later returned, criminal proceedings could extend the punishment long after secret detention ended.

How a security law became a means of prosecution

The Anti-Terrorism Act was enacted in 2009 to give authorities powers to respond to genuine terrorist threats. The commission found that its broad and vague definitions allowed political opponents, activists and government critics to be presented as threats to national security.

Among the 309 disappearance victims examined for the analysis of criminal charges, 198 faced proceedings under the act, far more than under any other statute. The Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act, Information and Communication Technology Act, Digital Security Act and Special Powers Act were also used, but less frequently.

The commission described criminalisation without evidence specific to each person. In practical terms, a detainee could emerge from an unacknowledged period in custody only to face a formal accusation that gave the authorities a new basis for keeping that person within the criminal justice system.

The resulting burden reached beyond imprisonment. A terrorism accusation could damage a person's reputation, restrict their ability to resume ordinary life and force their family to spend money defending a case. The inquiry placed those prosecutions within a wider pattern of efforts to silence opposition voices.

Case filings followed political pressure points

The commission's analysis linked changes in terrorism prosecutions with elections, opposition activity and public protests. The number of cases rose during politically sensitive periods, including the 2018 general election, protests against visiting foreign dignitaries and opposition mobilisation.

In 2018, a sharp increase in cases coincided with a crackdown on opposition parties. Cases in 2021 reflected the government's response to protests against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. Increased activity by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami was followed by sustained filings in 2022.

The pattern changed in 2023, when opposition activity shifted towards direct confrontations in the streets. Authorities used terrorism charges less frequently, and new cases declined. Filings fell further after the 2024 general election as political activity waned. The commission treated that rise and fall as evidence that the use of the law was closely connected to efforts to control dissent.

• 2009: Bangladesh enacted the Anti-Terrorism Act.
• 2016: The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit was established.
• 2018: Terrorism cases increased during an election period and a crackdown on opposition parties.
• 2021: Cases reflected the response to protests against Narendra Modi's visit; the United States also sanctioned RAB and its commanders that year.
• 2022: Increased BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activity coincided with sustained case filings.
• 2023: New terrorism cases declined as opposition activity moved towards street confrontations.
• 2024: Filings fell after the general election, and an inquiry was established after the Hasina government fell in August.

Confessions rehearsed under threat

Victims described being held in secret detention centres, tortured and threatened with further harm unless they signed statements dictated by their captors. Those statements were then taken to magistrates as confessions under Section 164, the procedure through which a confession is formally recorded before a magistrate.

The commission heard a consistent pattern: officers wrote scripts, detainees were made to memorise them, and the statements were rehearsed under pressure before being recited in court. Many victims lacked access to a lawyer. Magistrates frequently failed to check whether the statements were voluntary.

Some detainees had to speak while the people who had tortured them were present. They had no opportunity to talk privately to the magistrate. Under those conditions, the court appearance offered little practical chance to explain what had happened in secret custody.

One victim, aged 19, described being held for more than a month in a secret prison by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) in 2020. He was repeatedly made to rehearse his confession. He told the magistrate that he had been beaten and forced to confess, yet the statement was still recorded against him.

Another victim, who had been disappeared for a year by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), was brought to court freshly shaved and wearing clean clothes. The preparation created an appearance of normal treatment while concealing the experience of prolonged secret detention.

Few convictions after years in court

Of 794 terrorism cases resolved between 2017 and 2024, 52 ended in convictions, a rate described as about 7 percent. Most cases ended in acquittals. The commission linked the low conviction rate to serious weaknesses in the grounds on which prosecutions had begun.

The inquiry also found that administrative pressure affected how cases were handled. Proceedings approaching five years were often disposed of in groups to avoid the appearance of a growing backlog, rather than being resolved through careful consideration of the evidence in each case.

For defendants, an eventual acquittal followed years of uncertainty and expense. The findings describe a process in which secret detention could lead into a long prosecution, even when the case ultimately failed. Families faced average legal expenses of Tk 7 lakh per case, adding financial strain to the fear and distress caused by disappearance.

Several agencies formed the detention network

The commission identified the Bangladesh Police, including its Detective Branch and Special Branch, RAB, CTTC, DGFI, National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as principal agencies involved in enforced disappearances. Their roles differed, but the inquiry described operations beyond legal mandates and with little accountability.

The Bangladesh Police, particularly the Detective Branch, played a central role during periods of political unrest. The commission found that policing had become increasingly politicised, with officers acting to enforce government policy rather than serving as a neutral institution.

Those targeted included political activists, students, teachers, businesspeople and government critics. The inquiry described pervasive torture in custody and extrajudicial killings, often labelled crossfire incidents. Such killings occur outside a lawful judicial process.

CTTC, established in 2016, and DGFI, the country's principal military intelligence agency, were implicated in enforced disappearance, torture and arbitrary detention. The commission connected their activities with secret facilities, including Aynaghor, or House of Mirrors, where people were held without contact with the outside world.

The inquiry found that weak oversight and the expansion of intelligence agencies into civilian affairs allowed abuses to continue without effective punishment. A person taken into that network could be moved beyond the reach of relatives, lawyers and the ordinary safeguards surrounding an arrest.

RAB's role and the reach of intelligence operations

RAB was established to tackle serious crime and terrorism, but the commission documented hundreds of disappearance cases involving the force. Victims were sometimes later found dead; others remained missing. The inquiry linked RAB with extrajudicial killings, torture and secret detention.

RAB's intelligence wing conducted covert operations and held people in facilities including the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) cell. Detainees described relentless torture there. The facility formed part of a wider structure through which people could be held outside acknowledged custody.

The United States imposed sanctions on RAB and its commanders in 2021, citing gross human rights violations. International pressure increased, but the force's record of abuse continued to damage public trust in law enforcement and complicate efforts to reform security institutions.

NSI, Bangladesh's main civilian intelligence agency, was accused of monitoring and suppressing political opposition, civil society and journalists, often without legal oversight. BGB, whose responsibilities concern border security, was linked to abductions across borders and the transfer of victims to foreign security agencies. Those transfers made tracing responsibility and securing accountability more difficult.

At least 16 secret detention centres

The commission identified at least 16 secret detention centres in locations including Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj and Rajshahi. Many were inside police or intelligence compounds, placing concealed detention within premises controlled by state agencies.

People were held without contact with relatives or lawyers for weeks or months. The torture methods described included waterboarding, electric shocks, suspension upside down and psychological abuse. Victims faced both physical injury and the fear of not knowing whether they would be released.

The number and spread of facilities pointed to an organised practice involving several agencies. Secret custody also helped hide what happened before a detainee appeared in court. A formal arrest or confession could become the first official record visible to a family, while the preceding period of detention remained concealed.

The cost for survivors and families

Victims included people targeted for expressing dissent online, joining protests or being associated with opposition parties. Survivors faced psychological trauma, the effects of torture and the stigma of being labelled terrorists or criminals.

Some people never returned. Others were released but remained silent because they feared further harm. Families carried the distress of uncertainty alongside the practical demands of finding a missing relative and defending any criminal case that followed.

The average legal expense of Tk 7 lakh per case could deepen a household's financial difficulties. For families of the at least 345 people still missing, even the basic task of learning where a relative was held or what had happened to them remained unresolved.

The commission's preliminary findings described an organised pattern, mostly targeting political opponents. In setting out that conclusion, the commission of inquiry used the following words:

systematic design

The inquiry called for urgent reforms, including independent oversight, prosecution of those responsible and support for victims' families. Those measures address different parts of the harm: preventing new disappearances, determining responsibility for past abuses and helping people whose lives were disrupted.

Reform pledges face scrutiny under the interim administration

After the Hasina government's removal, the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus pledged to restore democratic principles and respect human rights. The inquiry's work placed pressure on that administration to address both the conduct of security agencies and the laws used against detainees.

Recent measures, including a temporary ban on the Awami League and amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, drew criticism that the new authorities were repeating methods associated with the previous government. The concern centred on the continued use of broad security powers to restrict political activity.

Human Rights Watch and other rights groups warned that those steps risked undermining fundamental freedoms while leaving past abuses without justice. The challenge for the interim authorities was therefore immediate: promises of reform were being assessed alongside their own decisions about political participation and state power.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) had repeatedly condemned the use of terrorism laws to silence dissent and carry out enforced disappearances. The United Nations and donor governments called for independent investigations, the disbandment of abusive units such as RAB and comprehensive reforms to restore the rule of law.

Accountability extends beyond a single law

Journalists, human rights defenders and ordinary citizens faced harassment, surveillance and violence for criticising government abuses. The Digital Security Act and Cyber Security Act were also used to criminalise online dissent and restrict freedom of expression, extending pressure beyond people prosecuted under terrorism legislation.

The commission's findings bring together several connected failures: unacknowledged detention, torture, coerced confessions, prosecutions without evidence specific to the accused and inadequate scrutiny in court. Changing the treatment of victims requires attention to each stage, from the moment someone is taken into custody to the final outcome of a case.

International sanctions and advocacy had not ended abuses. Security forces continued to operate with impunity, weakening public confidence in state institutions and the legal protections meant to govern their conduct. The inquiry's calls for oversight and prosecution focused on making those protections effective in practice.

For a missing person's family, accountability begins with learning the person's fate. For a survivor still facing a criminal case, it also involves examination of how the accusation and confession were obtained. The commission's findings place both needs at the centre of Bangladesh's effort to address enforced disappearances.

Key Points

• Of 309 disappearance victims examined for criminal charges, 198 faced prosecution under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009.
• The commission recorded more than 1,676 complaints and reviewed more than 1,350 disappearance cases; at least 345 people remained missing.
• Victims described torture, rehearsed confessions, denial of lawyers and failures by magistrates to check whether statements were voluntary.
• Only 52 of 794 cases resolved between 2017 and 2024 ended in convictions, a rate described as about 7 percent.
• Police, RAB, CTTC, DGFI, NSI and BGB were implicated, and at least 16 secret detention centres were identified.
• Families faced average legal expenses of Tk 7 lakh per case, alongside trauma and uncertainty.
• The Yunus administration's reform pledges faced scrutiny over the temporary Awami League ban and changes to the Anti-Terrorism Act.
• The inquiry called for independent oversight, prosecution of perpetrators and support for victims' families.