A newly released 223-page report by the commission on enforced disappearances has revealed that during the administration of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s judiciary was often used to legitimize state repression. The report, published on Tuesday, found that the legal system was manipulated to portray victims as criminals, normalize illegal detentions, and record coerced confessions as legal truths. It concluded that the judiciary was diverted from protecting citizens’ rights and instead served political objectives.

The commission identified a systematic pattern of forced confessions, procedural manipulation, and strategic case filing that allowed enforced disappearances to persist under legal cover. Testimonies from victims described being coerced into memorizing scripts, threatened with violence, and denied access to legal counsel. Magistrates often failed to verify whether confessions were voluntary, and in some cases, recorded statements under duress or in the presence of law enforcement officers.

The commission emphasized that the judiciary must act as the guardian of constitutional rights, stressing that no law enforcement agency is above the law and that even the most serious offenders are entitled to justice.