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Published : 24 Jun 2025, 01:19 AM
Allegations have long been there that Hindi-speaking Indian nationals interrogated victims of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh’s secret detention centres. Now, fresh claims suggest that Americans also conducted interrogations inside these black sites.
Victims have described to the commission how they were interrogated by English-speaking foreigners inside secret detention centres — referred to in the report as “foreign guests".
These revelations appear in the Chapter 6 of the report of the government-commissioned panel on enforced disappearances, which was shared with journalists on Monday by the Chief Advisor’s press wing.
The commission notes that while these foreign operatives were not directly involved in torture, their presence effectively legitimised the clandestine detention system.
“They did not appear to act as protectors but rather served a symbolic role, reinforcing the state’s narrative and projecting a façade of procedural legitimacy,” the report says.
It alleges that Bangladesh benefited from its anti-terrorism partnerships with both India and Western governments, particularly the United States. Senior officials confirmed that US collaboration contributed to the country’s security capacity, although this coincided with a rise in repression.
Citing a 2011 Human Rights Watch report, the commission highlights that foreign governments, especially the UK and US, viewed the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) as Bangladesh’s most effective counterterrorism force and were eager to deepen cooperation.
This support, both political and material, persisted despite mounting evidence of extrajudicial killings, secret detentions, and enforced disappearances.
The report concludes that the Awami League government, portraying itself as a bulwark against Islamist extremism, entered into what it describes as a “de facto authoritarian bargain,” securing tacit or active backing from international partners under the banner of global counterterrorism.
