Everyone wanted abolition, but RAB remained
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Various human rights organizations including the United Nations have recommended the abolition of RAB.
BNPO called for the abolition of RAB in a press conference.
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The interim government could not carry out reforms. The law does not exclude the clause of immunity of RAB members.
Due to its involvement in human rights violations including disappearances, extrajudicial killings, various organizations, groups and organizations including the United Nations have recommended the abolition of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). However, the government is thinking of abolishing RAB. It is not yet clear how the activities of this organization, which has slowed down a lot after the July coup, will continue.
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On Monday afternoon, Interior Minister Salahuddin Ahmad told reporters after the RAB’s 22nd founding anniversary ceremony that the government is working to create a modern and professional elite force in the coming days by fully upholding human rights and fulfilling people’s expectations. However, the Home Minister did not say anything in detail about what kind of reforms will be brought in the structure of this force.
Basically, after the fall of the Awami League government in the July mass coup, RAB’s past activities came into discussion the most. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances on January 5 this year, RAB was involved in about 25 percent of the total disappearances. As a single force it is supreme. Apart from that, out of the 40 secret detention centers found by the Missing Commission across the country, 22-23 were of RAB.
Prothom Alo has obtained the information of 1 thousand 293 people killed in 1 thousand 7 crossfire incidents in seven years (2015-21 years) in the records of the special branch of the police. Analyzing the documents, it can be seen that in 651 of these incidents, police and RAB were named in 293. In another 10 incidents, names of various forces including police, RAB, BGB have come jointly.
In the past two decades, Bangladesh has been the most criticized in the national and international arena for human rights issues due to disappearances and crossfire incidents. The statistics of different domestic and foreign organizations say that RAB’s name has come to the fore in these two types of crimes. In such a reality, after the July coup, the Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances recommended the abolition of RAB. At the beginning of this year, various human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch (HRW) also demanded the abolition of the agency. Earlier, on December 10, 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on seven former and current officers of RAB in connection with human rights violations.
The ruling party BNP held a press conference on December 10, 2024 during the interim government and sought the abolition of RAB. Two decades ago, in March 2004, this special unit was established by the BNP government comprising members of the police, army, navy, air force, BGB, coast guard and Ansar. Then some top terrorists including Picchi Hannan in Dhaka and ‘extremist terrorists’ were killed one after another in RAB’s ‘crossfire’. RAB came into discussion through these incidents.
Related sources say that the main targets of RAB were the discussed criminals or violent terrorists after its establishment. But gradually, RAB began to be used for political, economic and personal disputes, guidance of influential people and suppression of opponents. The organization became involved in cases like disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The incident of seven murders in Narayanganj on April 27, 2014 is a great example of this. 11 RAB members including Lt. Col. Tarek Saeed, the then commander of RAB-11, were involved in these murders in exchange of money from local ward councilor Nur Hossain.
RAB formally apologized for these incidents on December 12, 2024, after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government. The then RAB Director General AKM Shahidur Rahman said in the press conference, “We express our sorrow and apologize to the people who have been abused, tortured and harmed by RAB members since the creation of RAB, and to the families of those who have been killed by RAB, including the seven murders in Narayanganj.” Apart from this, during the Awami League government, RAB secret prisons or He also admitted to having a ‘mirror house’.
In such a reality, the demand for the abolition of RAB comes to the fore again from various parties. On April 5, RAB’s current Director General Ahsan Habib Palash said in an exchange meeting that the government will consider the dissolution of RAB or any decision related to RAB. Their duty is to fulfill their responsibilities.
Even if RAB is not abolished, it is necessary to change the current structure of the force, human rights activist Md. Noor Khan Mentioning that the members of the armed forces should not be involved in law enforcement, he told Prothom Alo yesterday that efficient units can be formed from among the police or related civil law enforcement forces who are responsible for law enforcement.
Noor Khan said that serious allegations of human rights violations against RAB have been going on for a long time. Those who once cooperated with the RAB are the ones who imposed the ban considering its human rights record. Therefore, in order to reform, the structure of the force, accountability, legal limits and human rights protection should be clearly laid down in the law.
In the press conference of BNP on December 10, 2024, asking for the abolition of RAB, Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, a member of the party’s standing committee and currently Speaker of the National Assembly, said, “RAB has been condemned internationally…and RAB has been made a monster in the country.” All the types of murders, extrajudicial killings, most of them have been done through this RAB force. That is why we have recommended its abolition. He also mentioned that if the organization is abolished, a good message will be sent to the people. He also spoke in favor of abolition without reforms.
In such a situation, what will be the role of BNP in this matter after the formation of the government – now that question is coming forward. Individuals and organizations working on human rights say that political parties have criticized RAB’s activities in the past but have shown a different face after the formation of the government. For example, during the four-party coalition government, domestic and foreign human rights organizations expressed their fears about RAB.
Soon after the Awami League came to power in 2009, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch suggested abolishing the RAB. The concerned persons say that instead of doing that, Awami League continues to use RAB more and more in cases of human rights violations. Even in 2014, to increase the power, RAB was proposed to be brought directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs instead of the Directorate of Police as the controlling authority. However, later it was no longer effective. At present, 15 battalions of RAB are being managed under a police officer (Director General) of the rank of Additional Inspector General (IGP).
In the face of demands from various parties regarding the abolition of RAB during the interim government, it was not done in the end. The RAB was constituted by the Armed Police Battalion (Amendment) Act, 2003. Section 13 of the Act provides that no prosecution, criminal proceedings or any other legal action shall be taken against any member of the force for any act done or intended to be done in good faith under this Act.
The final report of the Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances recommended repealing the clause and bringing all forces under strict legal accountability. But that is no longer done. A separate law for RAB has been discussed by various parties, but that too has not progressed.
A committee was also constituted under the chairmanship of Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Hafeez, Special Assistant on Defense and National Integration Development to the then Chief Adviser to the Interim Government on RAB restructuring. The committee recommended renaming RAB to ‘Special Intervention Force’ or SIF, which was approved by the Chief Adviser to the Interim Government. At that time, the Ministry of Home Affairs also informed about the change of RAB’s uniform and reforms in its activities. Later, none of these initiatives were implemented.
Amid such discussions and criticisms about RAB, the force’s overall law and order control activities have also lost momentum. The force’s major operations have declined in the last five years. There has been a decline in seven types of crime prevention activities including recovery of weapons, arrest of professional terrorists, robbers, pirates.
Talking to the various levels of members of the force, it is known that the activities of RAB are now limited to regular operations. They want to ensure that there is no new controversy about RAB.
The fact-finding team of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has released a report analyzing the human rights violations that took place in Bangladesh from July 1 to August 15, 2024 and talking to many protesters, including those who were seriously injured. In the report published on February 12 last year in view of the July mass uprising, RAB’s use of force and arrests in the students’ movement came to light. OHCHR recommended the abolition of RAB in that report.
The concerned persons say that the government’s position on RAB should be clarified. If it is abolished, it should also be clearly stated, and if it is retained, how it will remain, whether there will be any reform, where it will be reformed, and it must be implemented. The image of the government in the national and international environment will also be questioned if no initiative is taken in this matter as soon as possible.
Regarding the Home Minister’s statement on RAB, the former President of the Missing Investigation Commission Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury told Prothom Alo yesterday that how the RAB law will be made, what will be the structure of the force, will it be made up of only skilled police members or will it be composed of members of various forces as before – these issues are still not clear. If it becomes a law, then it will be seen how much the recommendations of the Commission on Disappearances have been implemented.
Moinul Islam said, if any such elite force is kept, it should consist of only skilled members of the police. Because maintaining law and order is the professional responsibility of the police. The name RAB has already been associated with controversy and fear at home and abroad. So the name change may come up.
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