Bangladesh probe reveals children held in secret jails

DHAKA: Several children were among hundreds of people held in secret detention centres in Bangladesh, a commission investigating enforced disappearances carried out during the tenure of now deposed premier Sheikh Hasina revealed on Tuesday.

At least half a dozen children spent months in black site jails with their mothers, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances said in its preliminary report, saying babies were even used as leverage during interrogations, including denying them milk.

Dhaka has issued arrest warrants including on charges of crimes against humanity for 77-year-old Hasina, who fled to old ally India in August 2024 after she was toppled by a student-led revolution.

Hasina´s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of political opponents and the unlawful abduction and disappearance of hundreds more.The commission said it had detailed “multiple verified cases where women were disappeared along with their children”, including as recently as 2023.