Subjected to relentless torture, a 19-year-old youth, a victim of “enforced disappearance” by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), was coerced into memorising a confession written by officials. This is just one of the many harrowing testimonies collected by the commission investigating enforced disappearance. A critical inquiry into the enforced disappearances has exposed a pattern of forced confessions extracted under duress -- often facilitated by magistrates who failed to uphold legal safeguards, according to an official commission report. The report suggests that in many such cases, magistrates not only failed to act independently but were also complicit -- knowingly recording statements obtained under duress in violation of procedural law. The report states that magistrates, judges, and tribunals are duty-bound to ensure justice without fear, favour, or bias.
