Victim recounts systemic torture and abuse in DGFI secret detention cell at International Crimes Tribunal
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A witness testified on Wednesday at the International Crimes Tribunal-1, detailing accounts of severe torture and prolonged detention at a secret interrogation facility operated by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). The victim, Md. Nure Alam, who was the president of the Nilphamari Government College unit of Jatiotabadi Chhatra Dal, appeared as the seventh prosecution witness in a case involving crimes against humanity.
Nure Alam told the tribunal that while in custody, he was permitted no more than two minutes to perform basic hygiene tasks, including brushing his teeth, bathing, and using the toilet. Any deviation from this strict timeframe resulted in brutal beatings that lasted for the remainder of the day. During his confinement, he was denied food and subjected to a regimen of sleep deprivation, with guards creating loud noises at the iron doors whenever he attempted to rest.
The witness testified that he was abducted from his Nilphamari home on the night of April 12, 2016, by a group of approximately 30 to 35 men in a minibus. He was held in an eight-by-eleven-foot windowless cell inside the Joint Interrogation Center (JIC), where an electric bulb remained lit 24 hours a day. Alam stated he was targeted for his social media posts supporting the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and criticizing the then-Awami League government and India.
During his interrogation, Alam was threatened by officials who claimed responsibility for bodies found abandoned near railway tracks and rivers. He was subjected to multiple sessions of torture, including being suspended from a wall fixture by his wrists and beaten across his lower body. His captors consistently wore masks to hide their identities, and he was kept under constant CCTV surveillance. Following his initial two-week stay, he was moved to a different cell where his hands were cuffed to iron bars for approximately 40 days, resulting in severe physical injuries and infections that went untreated.
The case involves 13 high-ranking defendants. Three of them—former DGFI directors Major General Sheikh Md. Sarwar Hossain, Brigadier General Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, and Brigadier General Ahmed Tanvir Mazahar Siddiqui—are currently held in a sub-jail at the Dhaka Cantonment.
Ten other defendants remain at large. This group includes five former DGFI directors general: Lieutenant General (Retd.) Akbar Hossain, Major General (Retd.) Saiful Abedin, Lieutenant General (Retd.) Saiful Alam, Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ahmed Tabrej Shams Chowdhury, and Major General (Retd.) Hamidul Haque. Other fugitives include Major General (Retd.) Mohammad Towhidul Ul Islam, Major General Kabir Ahammed, and Lieutenant Colonel (Retd.) Mokhshurul Haque. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted in the recent mass uprising, and her former defense advisor, Major General (Retd.) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, are also named as defendants in the case and remain at large.
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