For the first time in Bangladesh's history, 15 serving army officers were taken to a civil court yesterday to face trial for their alleged role in enforced disappearances during the Awami League's rule and killings during the July uprising.
The three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, showed them arrested in three cases and ordered the authorities to send them to jail.
Two of the cases involve enforced disappearances and the other is over the July uprising killings. The tribunal issued arrest warrants against 32 accused, including the 15 serving officers, on October 8 after taking cognisance of formal charges against them.
According to the prosecution, one case over enforced disappearance involves the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) Cell, run by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab). According to the charges, 14 detainees were confined and tortured in the cell between 2016 and 2024.
Among the 17 accused in the case, 10 former Rab officers, who had been from the army, appeared before the tribunal.
They are Brig Gen Md Qamrul Hasan, Brig Gen Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Brig Gen Md Mahbub Alam, Brig Gen Md Jahangir Alam, Col AKM Azad, Col Abdullah Al Momen, Col Md Sarwar Bin Kashem, Col Anowar Latif Khan, Lt Col Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, and Lt Col Md Saiful Islam Sumon.
The second case centres on the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), run by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), where 24 victims were allegedly detained and tortured from 2016 to August 2024.
Three former DGFI officers -- Maj Gen Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossen, Brig Gens Md Mahbub Rahman Siddique, and Ahmed Tanvir Majahar Siddique -- were produced before the tribunal in this case.
The court fixed November 20 for the next hearing in both disappearance cases. Deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her former defence adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique are also accused in both cases. Besides Tarique Ahmed Siddique, nine retired senior army officers are also among the accused.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and three former Rab chiefs are also accused in the case involving the alleged torture in the TFI Cell.
In the third case over the killings of 28 people during the student-led protests in Rampura on July 18–19 last year, two former BGB officers -- Lt Col Mohammad Redowanul Islam and Maj Rafat Bin Alam Moon -- were produced before the tribunal. They too are originally from the army.
The next hearing was set for November 5 in this case. Two police officers, currently absconding, are also accused in the case.
As law enforcers failed to arrest the remaining accused, the tribunal ordered public notices in two newspapers asking absconding suspects to appear within seven days.
HEARING
Around 7:15am, the army officers were brought to the tribunal in an air-conditioned prison bus. Police escorted each officer to the lock-up on the tribunal's ground floor.
Ten of the officers accused in the case involving the alleged torture in the TFI Cell were first taken to the dock, minutes before the tribunal began proceedings at 8:15am.
As the session opened, the tribunal chair read out their names one by one, asking each to stand. Dressed in casual shirts or T-shirts and trousers, the officers complied, confirming their presence. They were followed by three former DGFI officers accused in the case involving the alleged torture in the JIC and two accused in the Rampura killings case.
The 15 accused were taken back to the prison bus from the lock-up around 10:00am.
A heavy security blanket was thrown around the tribunal premises ahead of the hearing, with personnel from Rab, BGB, police, and the Armed Police Battalion deployed to maintain order.
Lawyer M Sarwar Hossain, who represented the accused army officers, submitted three petitions seeking bail, permission for appearance of the accused via video link, and privileged communication.
The tribunal said it would look into the appeals for bail and online appearance later, directing the lawyer to have the vakalatnamas signed to formally represent the officers and hold privileged communications.
Sarwar told the tribunal that his clients appeared before the tribunal following the court's order.
Countering Sarwar's claim, ICT Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam told the tribunal that the army officers did not appear voluntarily, but were arrested by law enforcers.
Sarwar later told reporters that the officers "voluntarily surrendered out of respect for the law" and were "innocent professionals who hope to prove their innocence".
"These officers are courageous, innocent, and have surrendered believing that they will be proved innocent ultimately," he said.
He claimed the real perpetrators had fled abroad and said the officers were likely to be kept in a sub-jail within Dhaka Cantonment.
Prosecutor Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim said the officers were arrested by Cantonment police under tribunal warrants. "They were brought in a prison van with a forwarding report from the police that proves they were attested by the police," he said.
He also said police probably made the arrests on Tuesday.
Asked about the prosecution's claim, defence counsel Sarwar insisted the army officers surrendered themselves before the tribunal, and since the surrender took place under police escort, the prosecution wrongly termed them arrested.
Tajul thanked law enforcement and the army for executing arrest orders.
He said the Bangladesh Army, whom he described as "guardians of national sovereignty", cooperated in executing the court's arrest orders.
"They had pledged respect for the law of the land and expressed full support for the judicial process. They have kept that commitment," he said.
He warned all against spreading misinformation about the patriotic armed forces.
Replying to a query, Tajul said that under the amended ICT law, the accused are no longer in active service once formal charges are pressed.
Barrister Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman, a victim of enforced disappearance, talked to journalists outside the tribunal. He urged the government to form a commission to probe how top military officers managed to flee despite cancelled passports and cantonment restrictions.
Arman, son of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali, also called for oversight to ensure those detained in cantonments are held under the jail code and cannot communicate with serving personnel.
"My hope as a victim is that patriotic members of the army will never again be used as tools of hired killing or made to stand against the people they are meant to protect," he said. "This trial will ensure that."
SUB-JAIL
The government on October 12 declared MES (Military Engineering Service) building number 54, located north of Bashar Road in Dhaka Cantonment, as a temporary jail under the provisions of the Prisoners Act, 1984. The sub-jail, prepared for the 15 army officers, is also called the Visiting Senior Officers' Quarters (VSOQ).
Sources from the prisons directorate confirmed that the 15 army officers had not been kept at the facility until the court ordered the authorities to send them to jail. The Bangladesh Army on October 11 announced that the 15 serving officers had been taken into custody.
The VSOQ "mess" comprises small serviced apartments, according to those who had resided there.
Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Md Motaher Hossain said that the individual rooms have been turned into cells by fitting them with the grilles needed to turn the rooms into "lock-ups".
According to the Jail Code, prisoners are kept locked in their cells from sundown.
When asked if they will each get "division" status, which allows them each a room of their own, Brig Gen Motaher said that all commissioned officers get "division" status in jail.
"These quarters had two rooms or single rooms, and we modified them according to the security arrangements of the Jail Code," he said.
The boundary walls of the compound have been reinforced. CCTV cameras have also been installed.
The officers were searched upon entry into the sub-jail and they will not have access to communication devices.
Asked why the 15 army officers were brought to the tribunal by an air-conditioned bus owned by the prisons directorate, Brig Gen Motaher said, "The police asked for support from us…. We have been using this bus for inter-jail transport of inmates for about six months. Six of these buses were procured as a part of a grant. We have not yet used them for transport of inmates to the courts."