Dhaka, June 17 -- 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.

Despite pleading with the magistrate to remove law enforcers from the courtroom and take his statement privately, the magistrate dismissed his requests. The confession, prepared by his captors, was accepted and recorded as voluntary.

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 saf...