Under Her Rule, Hundreds Were Taken to a Dark Secret Prison

Sheikh Hasina led an authoritarian regime in Bangladesh for 15 years before fleeing the country in August. As she left, Mir Ahmad Quasem Arman came back to life. The New York Times reports he was one of three prisoners who had long been held at a secret underground prison called the House of Mirrors that were released, and "dropped off in a barren field" near the capital, write Mujib Mashal and Shayeza Walid. "While Ms. Hasina's downfall has given her country of 170 million people an opening to chart a new future," they continue, "it has also lifted the veil on some of the worst abuses of Bangladesh's recent past." The disappearance of hundreds of people for the slightest political move is among them; Abdullahil Amaan Azmi's crime appeared to be that his father was an Islamist leader. Azmi was held for eight years.

The Times' reporting has revealed the military's intelligence wing handled the secret long-term detentions of at least 700 people since 2009. More than half were released after months or years but sworn to secrecy; 80 died and the whereabouts of 150 are unknown. "The internment center was a tightly run operation intended to prolong a life barely worth living," Mashal and Walid write. "Medical checkups were regular and thorough. Haircuts: every four to six months. Direct physical torture, if any, was kept to the early days, during interrogations. The goal instead was to torture the mind." Azmi estimated he was blindfolded and handcuffed 41,000 times. He initially was able to experience a sliver of sunlight through two small ventilation openings. "But once they found out through the CCTV camera," he said, "they closed those off." (Read much more on the prison here.)