Sheikh Hasina believed corrupt army would be safer for her rule, testifies Bangladesh ex-army chief

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s former army chief, General (retd) Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, has testified before the International Crimes Tribunal-1, revealing disturbing details about enforced disappearances, custodial deaths, and alleged politicisation of the armed forces during the Awami League government, according to Bangladeshi media reports.

Widely known as IKB, Bhuiyan served as chief of army staff from June 25, 2012, to June 25, 2015. He appeared as a prosecution witness in a crimes against humanity case against former army officer Major General (retd) Ziaul Ahsan.

During his testimony, Bhuiyan described the formation of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in 2003—by combining army personnel with civilian police—as a “wrong and dangerous decision.”

Ziaul Ahsan, who is currently in custody, is facing trial in multiple cases involving allegations of abduction, torture, enforced disappearances, killings, and other crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors allege that he orchestrated the enforced disappearance and killing of at least 104 people between 2010 and 2013, with the broader case covering more than 100 incidents during the Awami League’s rule.

Bhuiyan told the tribunal that the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) routinely picked up civilians, political figures, and even ministers during the 2007–2009 caretaker government period and detained them in secret cells for interrogation.

“They even picked up BNP leader Tarique Rahman and subjected him to inhuman torture,” he testified.

He described the indemnity granted to security forces involved in Operation Clean Heart as a “licence to kill,” arguing that it normalised enforced disappearances, custodial deaths, and impunity within military and intelligence agencies.

‘Army Officers Returned as Killers’

The former army chief said his greatest distress was seeing professional army officers return from RAB postings “transformed into killers.”

He warned that deploying soldiers trained under a “one bullet, one enemy” doctrine into law-enforcement roles was disastrous. “Soldiers are trained to dehumanise targets. That training is incompatible with civilian policing,” he said, adding that mixing army personnel with civil police was a grave mistake.

Bhuiyan said he personally interviewed officers before and after postings to RAB, DGFI, or Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), urging them to refuse illegal killing missions.

“To kill a defenceless person with hands and feet bound is an act of cowardice,” he said he told them.

Political Control and Corruption

Bhuiyan alleged that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, acting through her relative Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, exploited state security agencies to suppress political opponents and entrench corruption.

“By engaging the army in national projects and sidelining professional officers in favour of loyalists, the force was gradually corrupted,” Bhuiyan testified, adding “A corrupt army, Sheikh Hasina believed, would be safer for her.”

Following the 2009 BDR mutiny—which killed 57 army officers and 17 civilians—Bhuiyan said hostility toward India and the Awami League intensified within the ranks, while divisions between senior and junior officers deepened.

Power Networks

Bhuiyan alleged that Siddique emerged as a “super chief” over the armed forces, bringing institutions including DGFI, NSI, RAB, NTMC, Ansar, and BGB under his control. He said four parallel networks were created.

A ‘Crime Network’, which Siddique operated to “suppress political opponents through repression, killings, and enforced disappearances”.

A deep-state network that controlled defence policymaking, often bypassing service chiefs. A procurement network influencing military purchases, and a military engineering network that used national development projects as a major source of illicit funds.

‘Culture of Killing’

Bhuiyan told the tribunal that during his tenure as army chief, a “culture of enforced disappearance and killing” gradually took root within the military.

Speaking to journalists, Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam called the testimony historic.

“This is an extremely important day in Bangladesh’s judicial history,” he said. “For the first time, a former army chief has testified as a prosecution witness in a case involving the highest number of alleged extrajudicial killings.”