Enforced disappearance: Humam recalls torture before tribunal

Humam Quader Chowdhury, a victim of enforced disappearance, yesterday testified as the first prosecution witness in a crimes against humanity case involving enforced disappearances, recounting his seven-month ordeal in secret detention at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), popularly known as “Aynaghar.”

“For the first two months, I counted the days by scratching the wall with a nail. After that, I stopped,” Humam told the tribunal.

“All the windows were painted black,” he said of the facility, which he alleged was operated by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).

The case accuses former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 12 others of responsibility for the secret detention and torture of at least 24 people at the JIC between 2016 and August 2024.

Humam, son of executed BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, said he was abducted on August 4, 2016, by plainclothes men at Bangshal intersection while heading to court with his mother. He was first taken to Bangshal police station and then to the Detective Branch (DB) office on Minto Road.

While he was in DB custody, then DB official Monirul Islam held a press briefing claiming Humam was not in their custody, he told the court. Humam later saw on television that a warrant had been issued against him for failing to appear before court while he was still being detained.

The following day, he was blindfolded and driven in a microbus, where he became convinced he would be killed in a staged “crossfire.” After changing vehicles near the airport road, he was hooded, handcuffed and driven again, sensing zigzag roads and believing he had been taken into a cantonment.

“When the vehicle stopped, I heard an old gate opening,” he said. “I was taken to a cell, stripped, photographed and threatened with hanging.”

The cell contained a cot, a small table and a plastic chair. The next morning, while eating breakfast, he noticed “CTIB” written in red ink under the table, which he later learned stood for Counter Terrorism Intelligence Bureau. When a senior officer noticed the writing, the table was immediately removed.

Humam said he was given the code name “VIP One.” He realised this after medicine was mistakenly handed to him with its wrapper intact, marked “VIP-1.”

He testified that he was repeatedly interrogated about his political beliefs, family background and alleged links to foreign intelligence agencies, including Pakistan’s ISI, India’s RAW and the CIA. When he denied the allegations, he was beaten, including blows to the back of his head that knocked him to the floor.

He said he was always blindfolded, hooded and handcuffed when taken out of the cell, even to the bathroom. The cell lights were kept on at all times, depriving him of any sense of day or night.

Humam described severe torture that left his body covered with rashes and caused a large abscess on his leg. When he could no longer walk, a doctor examined him but refused to take him to a hospital. Instead, the abscess was cut open inside the cell while he was tied to a cot.

“I lost consciousness,” he said. “When I woke up, there was blood, gauze and tissue scattered on the floor.”

He also told the court that he was frequently injected with substances that caused intense burning sensations. His arms turned black from repeated injections, and chemicals were sometimes administered through IV drips. He recalled seeing IV bags labelled “Defence medicine, not for sale.”

Humam said he heard Quran recitation from a neighbouring cell and later learned the voice belonged to Brigadier Aman Azmi. He also saw other detainees being dragged past his cell, blindfolded and hooded.

He further alleged hearing Hindi conversations outside his cell and later learned that the doctor who operated on him was Dr Rowshan Alam.

During his final interrogation, he was instructed to claim, if released, that criminals had abducted him and that he had escaped. “They told me the honourable prime minister wanted to give me a second chance,” he said, adding that he then understood Sheikh Hasina’s role in his disappearance.

On March 2, 2017, he was released at dawn on a footpath in Dhanmondi, just three streets from his home. “Even the house guard failed to recognise me,” he said.

After August 5, 2024, Humam revisited Aynaghar with the chief adviser and identified the exact cell where he had been held, which still bore his initials and the date of his abduction.

“I want justice against those who ordered my disappearance, kept me in Aynaghar, and tortured me,” he told the tribunal.

The other accused include Sheikh Hasina’s former defence and security adviser, Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, five former DGFI chiefs, five former CTIB directors and another former DGFI official. They have been charged on five counts related to enforced disappearances and torture.

Three former DGFI officers -- Maj Gen Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossen and Brig Gens Md Mahbub Rahman Siddique and Ahmed Tanvir Majahar Siddique -- were present in the dock during the testimony.

After Humam concluded his statement, the tribunal fixed January 25 for his cross-examination by the defence.