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Commission for disbanding RAB
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Monday said that it had recommended disbanding the Rapid Action Battalion and reforming the intelligence agencies in its final report.
www.newagebd.net
Commission for disbanding RAB
Reforms in DGFI, NSI suggested
Staff Correspondent 06 January, 2026, 00:23
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances holds a press conference at the commission’s office at Gulshan in Dhaka on Monday. | Star Mail photo
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Monday said that it had recommended disbanding the Rapid Action Battalion and reforming the intelligence agencies in its final report.
The commission chairperson, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, made the remarks at a press conference held at the commission’s office in the capital’s Gulshan area.
He said that intelligence agencies, including the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the National Security Intelligence, required massive reforms.
‘We suggested reforms in the DGFI and the NSI so that they are not engaged in tasks such as bank and media house grabbing or interference in politics. This requires strong political will. We have submitted our recommendations to the interim government, which is non-political,’ Justice Moyeenul said while responding to a question about disbanding the DGFI like the RAB.
The country needs DGFI, but they need reforms, he said.
He said that the DGFI was involved in the Islami Bank grabbing for S Alam group during the Sheikh Hasina regime, which the commission did not want to occur again.
He said that the forces destroyed evidence and the commission asked the authorities not to destroy any evidence further.
‘Destruction of evidence is also a criminal offense,’ he said.
He said that they also recommended reconstituting the National Human Rights Commission.
‘If any human rights violation occurs, there will be no agency except the courts. The courts have 45,00,000 pending cases with only 2,000 judicial officers or judges,’ he said.
He said that Hummam Quader Chowdhury, son of executed Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, was picked up by the Detective Branch of the police and was handed over to the DGFI. Political party merchandise
‘We have visited 40 detention centres, including 22 or 23 run by the RAB. These centres have a lot of cells,’ said a commission member, Sazzad Hossain.
He said that they had also found such centres in DGFI, NSI, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit.
He also said that the RAB destroyed most of the evidence.
Addressing the press conference, the commission chair Justice Moyeenul said that the Bangladesh Army was not involved in enforced disappearances as a force, but many officers on deputation in intelligence agencies like DGFI and NSI from the army, the Bangladesh Navy and the Bangladesh Air Force were involved in such acts.
‘Army high-ups knew about the matter, but they had nothing to do as DGFI was under the defense ministry, overseen by the prime minister, and NSI under the prime minister’s office,’ he said.
Referring to two interim reports, the commission chair said that they had recommended legal action against responsible persons and organisations.
He said that they also recommended organisational reforms and to enact the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025, and the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2025 for stopping the recurrence of enforced disappearances.
He said that they also recommended disbanding the RAB, removing the armed forces from maintaining internal law and order, scrapping or fundamentally amending the Anti-Terrorism Act, scrapping clause 13 of the Armed Police Battalion Ordinance 2003, adopting a victim-centric justice system, and ensuring compensation and rehabilitation for victims.
He said that they also suggested transforming the detention centres, commonly known as ‘Aynaghar’, into museums.
Commission member Nur Khan Liton said that political parties should come forward to stand against enforced disappearance and extrajudicial crimes.
The commission in its final report submitted to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Sunday, revealed that it had found evidence that the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her military adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were directly involved in high-profile enforced disappearances.
The commission was formed by the interim government on August 27, 2024, to enquire into cases of enforced disappearances that occurred during the tenure of the Sheikh Hasina-led authoritarian Awami League regime that was ousted from power on August 5, 2024 amid a mass uprising.
‘A total of 1,913 complaints were filed with the commission. After intensive scrutiny, 231 were found to be duplicates. In many instances, the same case had been sent through multiple channels, for example, by email, courier, and in-person submission, or both an organisation and the affected individual had submitted separate complaints about the same incident, and left 1,682 unique complaints,’ the final report said.
After removing 231 duplicate files and 113 files of non-qualifying cases, the report said that they were left with 1,569 complaints involving potential enforced disappearance, which was about 82 per cent of all complaints.
‘Within these cases, 251 victims never returned and are presumed dead, while a further 36 bodies were recovered after periods of enforced disappearance, often following so-called ‘crossfire’ incidents or discovered in rivers with gunshot wounds,’ the report said.
It said that 287 deaths were plausibly associated with enforced disappearance.
Of the 1,569 potential enforced disappearance complaints, a total of 1,282 people reappeared after varying periods in illegal custody, the report said.
According to the report, the commission found political identity of 946 reappeared victims, including 476 of Jamaat, 236 of Islami Chhatra Shibir, 142 of the BNP, 46 of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, and 17 of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal.
Of the 253 missing victims, BNP and its affiliates together constitute roughly 68 per cent and Jamaat and Shibir account for roughly 22 per cent.
Reforms in DGFI, NSI suggested
Staff Correspondent 06 January, 2026, 00:23
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances holds a press conference at the commission’s office at Gulshan in Dhaka on Monday. | Star Mail photo
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Monday said that it had recommended disbanding the Rapid Action Battalion and reforming the intelligence agencies in its final report.
The commission chairperson, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, made the remarks at a press conference held at the commission’s office in the capital’s Gulshan area.
He said that intelligence agencies, including the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the National Security Intelligence, required massive reforms.
‘We suggested reforms in the DGFI and the NSI so that they are not engaged in tasks such as bank and media house grabbing or interference in politics. This requires strong political will. We have submitted our recommendations to the interim government, which is non-political,’ Justice Moyeenul said while responding to a question about disbanding the DGFI like the RAB.
The country needs DGFI, but they need reforms, he said.
He said that the DGFI was involved in the Islami Bank grabbing for S Alam group during the Sheikh Hasina regime, which the commission did not want to occur again.
He said that the forces destroyed evidence and the commission asked the authorities not to destroy any evidence further.
‘Destruction of evidence is also a criminal offense,’ he said.
He said that they also recommended reconstituting the National Human Rights Commission.
‘If any human rights violation occurs, there will be no agency except the courts. The courts have 45,00,000 pending cases with only 2,000 judicial officers or judges,’ he said.
He said that Hummam Quader Chowdhury, son of executed Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, was picked up by the Detective Branch of the police and was handed over to the DGFI. Political party merchandise
‘We have visited 40 detention centres, including 22 or 23 run by the RAB. These centres have a lot of cells,’ said a commission member, Sazzad Hossain.
He said that they had also found such centres in DGFI, NSI, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit.
He also said that the RAB destroyed most of the evidence.
Addressing the press conference, the commission chair Justice Moyeenul said that the Bangladesh Army was not involved in enforced disappearances as a force, but many officers on deputation in intelligence agencies like DGFI and NSI from the army, the Bangladesh Navy and the Bangladesh Air Force were involved in such acts.
‘Army high-ups knew about the matter, but they had nothing to do as DGFI was under the defense ministry, overseen by the prime minister, and NSI under the prime minister’s office,’ he said.
Referring to two interim reports, the commission chair said that they had recommended legal action against responsible persons and organisations.
He said that they also recommended organisational reforms and to enact the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025, and the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2025 for stopping the recurrence of enforced disappearances.
He said that they also recommended disbanding the RAB, removing the armed forces from maintaining internal law and order, scrapping or fundamentally amending the Anti-Terrorism Act, scrapping clause 13 of the Armed Police Battalion Ordinance 2003, adopting a victim-centric justice system, and ensuring compensation and rehabilitation for victims.
He said that they also suggested transforming the detention centres, commonly known as ‘Aynaghar’, into museums.
Commission member Nur Khan Liton said that political parties should come forward to stand against enforced disappearance and extrajudicial crimes.
The commission in its final report submitted to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Sunday, revealed that it had found evidence that the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her military adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were directly involved in high-profile enforced disappearances.
The commission was formed by the interim government on August 27, 2024, to enquire into cases of enforced disappearances that occurred during the tenure of the Sheikh Hasina-led authoritarian Awami League regime that was ousted from power on August 5, 2024 amid a mass uprising.
‘A total of 1,913 complaints were filed with the commission. After intensive scrutiny, 231 were found to be duplicates. In many instances, the same case had been sent through multiple channels, for example, by email, courier, and in-person submission, or both an organisation and the affected individual had submitted separate complaints about the same incident, and left 1,682 unique complaints,’ the final report said.
After removing 231 duplicate files and 113 files of non-qualifying cases, the report said that they were left with 1,569 complaints involving potential enforced disappearance, which was about 82 per cent of all complaints.
‘Within these cases, 251 victims never returned and are presumed dead, while a further 36 bodies were recovered after periods of enforced disappearance, often following so-called ‘crossfire’ incidents or discovered in rivers with gunshot wounds,’ the report said.
It said that 287 deaths were plausibly associated with enforced disappearance.
Of the 1,569 potential enforced disappearance complaints, a total of 1,282 people reappeared after varying periods in illegal custody, the report said.
According to the report, the commission found political identity of 946 reappeared victims, including 476 of Jamaat, 236 of Islami Chhatra Shibir, 142 of the BNP, 46 of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, and 17 of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal.
Of the 253 missing victims, BNP and its affiliates together constitute roughly 68 per cent and Jamaat and Shibir account for roughly 22 per cent.
