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Disband RAB, HRW tells PM -
bdnews24.com
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is beyond reform and should therefore be disbanded, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The New York-based body also recommended the withdrawal of all army officers from RAB so it can be transformed into a civilian force before it is terminated.
“Although RAB is officially led by a senior police officer, in practice it is run by the military officers who act as his deputies,” writes Brad Adams, its Asia Division’s executive director on Monday.
He claimed police officers working in RAB ‘privately complain' of being treated as subservient to the military.
The RAB structure allows army men to participate in securing civilians ‘without proper training or civilian accountability and oversight,’ he said.
Ruling Awami League had raised these points while it was in Opposition, he added.
The elite police unit has been “allowed to operate with impunity by all successive governments” ever since its inception, the letter states.
Adams, however, viewed BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s ‘endorsement of HRW’s recommendation to disband RAB’ as a major turning point, because the elite force was established by her government.
“Independent organizations estimate that RAB has been responsible for approximately 800 killings over the past 10 years,” he said.
Senior government officials including former Law Minister Shafique Ahmed and Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan had condoned extrajudicial killings by RAB, as being “necessary for crime control,” he writes.
The letter mentions the alleged involvement of RAB officers in the abductions and murders of seven in Narayanganj and how it has plummeted RAB’s public image 'to an all-time-low.'
Former RAB-11 chief Lt Col Tarek Sayeed, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana have been removed from their units after the bodies of the seven persons were found floating on Sitalakhyya in April.
They have admitted to their involvements in their confessional testimonies to court after they were subsequently arrested.
RAB has returned to patrolling the streets two days into Ramadan after deciding to stay away from tasks outside its core duties following the allegations.
HRW welcomed the probe but says Sheikh Hasina has utterly failed to keep her promise to “hold RAB accountable and prevent future killings”.
The prime minister ruled out disbanding the elite force after the Narayanganj killings and defended its record instead, it said.
Hasina on May 31 dismissed the call by Khaleda to disband RAB saying the institution can’t be shut down suddenly.
State minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan also said ‘disbanding RAB was out of question.”
'We call it a death squad'
RAB has acted alone or in Joint Forces with police and BGB to ‘execute’ opposition activists before the January election, claimed HRW, which said it investigated several of such claims.
The letter says ‘authorities’ in multiple cases have admitted that these men were shot in custody or during encounters.
HRW said it probed ten cases of illegal arrests by men who identified themselves as RAB and found that victims, who were whisked away on RAB vehicles, ended up being dead and their bodies were dumped on the side of the road.
“These cases and others are the reason Human Rights Watch calls RAB a ‘death squad’. “
Adams argued that HRW is aware that Bangladesh needs ‘strong law enforcement agencies’ but RAB was beyond reforms because of its long involvement in ‘systematic killings.’
bdnews24.com
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is beyond reform and should therefore be disbanded, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The New York-based body also recommended the withdrawal of all army officers from RAB so it can be transformed into a civilian force before it is terminated.
“Although RAB is officially led by a senior police officer, in practice it is run by the military officers who act as his deputies,” writes Brad Adams, its Asia Division’s executive director on Monday.
He claimed police officers working in RAB ‘privately complain' of being treated as subservient to the military.
The RAB structure allows army men to participate in securing civilians ‘without proper training or civilian accountability and oversight,’ he said.
Ruling Awami League had raised these points while it was in Opposition, he added.
The elite police unit has been “allowed to operate with impunity by all successive governments” ever since its inception, the letter states.
Adams, however, viewed BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s ‘endorsement of HRW’s recommendation to disband RAB’ as a major turning point, because the elite force was established by her government.
“Independent organizations estimate that RAB has been responsible for approximately 800 killings over the past 10 years,” he said.
Senior government officials including former Law Minister Shafique Ahmed and Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan had condoned extrajudicial killings by RAB, as being “necessary for crime control,” he writes.
The letter mentions the alleged involvement of RAB officers in the abductions and murders of seven in Narayanganj and how it has plummeted RAB’s public image 'to an all-time-low.'
Former RAB-11 chief Lt Col Tarek Sayeed, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana have been removed from their units after the bodies of the seven persons were found floating on Sitalakhyya in April.
They have admitted to their involvements in their confessional testimonies to court after they were subsequently arrested.
RAB has returned to patrolling the streets two days into Ramadan after deciding to stay away from tasks outside its core duties following the allegations.
HRW welcomed the probe but says Sheikh Hasina has utterly failed to keep her promise to “hold RAB accountable and prevent future killings”.
The prime minister ruled out disbanding the elite force after the Narayanganj killings and defended its record instead, it said.
Hasina on May 31 dismissed the call by Khaleda to disband RAB saying the institution can’t be shut down suddenly.
State minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan also said ‘disbanding RAB was out of question.”
'We call it a death squad'
RAB has acted alone or in Joint Forces with police and BGB to ‘execute’ opposition activists before the January election, claimed HRW, which said it investigated several of such claims.
The letter says ‘authorities’ in multiple cases have admitted that these men were shot in custody or during encounters.
HRW said it probed ten cases of illegal arrests by men who identified themselves as RAB and found that victims, who were whisked away on RAB vehicles, ended up being dead and their bodies were dumped on the side of the road.
“These cases and others are the reason Human Rights Watch calls RAB a ‘death squad’. “
Adams argued that HRW is aware that Bangladesh needs ‘strong law enforcement agencies’ but RAB was beyond reforms because of its long involvement in ‘systematic killings.’
