Images : RAB the elite anti-terrorism force of Bangladesh
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mil-avia
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Tiki Tam Tam
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They appear to be effective.
Any incidents where they have been put into action and what were the results?
Any incidents where they have been put into action and what were the results?
Zabaniyah
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I can assure you that they are a very effective force. Probably the best anti-terrorist unit in South Asia
mil-avia
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I can assure you that they are a very effective force. Probably the best anti-terrorist unit in South Asia
If you say so, so be it.
Hopefully, you will loan them to us the next time we are under attack!
mil-avia
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Bangladesh: Broken Promises From Government to Halt RAB Killings
Government Should Disband or Radically Reform Rapid Action Battalion
May 10, 2011
*
(Dhaka) - The Bangladeshi government is failing to keep its commitment to end extrajudicial killings, torture, and other abuses by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and hold those responsible accountable, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today.
The 53-page report, "‘Crossfire': Continued Human Rights Abuses by Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion," documents abuses by RAB in and around Dhaka, the capital, under the current Awami League-led government. Nearly 200 people have been killed in RAB operations since January 6, 2009, when the government assumed office. While in opposition the Awami League promised to end extrajudicial killings, but since it came to office senior government officials have denied that RAB has committed abuses, and some have even justified them.
"After two years in office, the government has had more than enough time to take action to stop the RAB's murderous practices," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "A death squad is roaming the streets of Bangladesh and the government does not appear to be doing anything to stop it. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina needs to act."
The report builds on the 2006 Human Rights Watch report, "Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Torture and Extrajudicial Killings by Bangladesh's Elite Security Force." It is based on over 80 interviews with victims, witnesses, human rights defenders, journalists, law enforcement officials, lawyers, and judges.
Although the government has made many commitments to end the killings and to punish perpetrators, no RAB officer or official has ever been prosecuted for a "crossfire" killing or other human rights abuse. "Crossfire" is a blanket term used to justify most of the unit's killings.
The government should either make major steps towards RAB accountability and reform in the next six months or disband it, Human Rights Watch said. Donors such as the US, United Kingdom, and Australia should immediately withdraw all assistance and cooperation until and unless dramatic improvements take place.
RAB was formed in March 2004 as a composite force comprising members from the military -army, air force, and navy - the police, and members of Bangladesh's other law enforcement groups. Members are assigned from their parent organizations, to which they return after serving with the unit. RAB operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs and is commanded by an officer not below the rank of deputy inspector general of the police or the equivalent military rank. The unit is regarded as an elite counterterrorism force and indeed has targeted, apart from criminal suspects, alleged members of militant Islamist or left-wing groups.
In often standardized press statements, the unit claims that criminals were shot and killed in "crossfire" after they or their accomplices opened fire on RAB. Investigations by Human Rights Watch and Bangladeshi human rights organizations have found, however, that many victims have been executed while in the unit's custody. Bodies of those killed have often carried marks indicating that they had been tortured. Many people who survived periods in the unit's custody have alleged that they were tortured there.
In one recent case, on March 3, RAB personnel in civilian clothes picked up Rasal Ahmed Bhutto while he was minding a friend's shop in Dhaka. Bhutto's brother-in-law, Gulam Mustafa, told Human Rights Watch that one of their relatives in the army was able to contact colleagues in RAB and extract a promise that Bhutto would not be killed in "crossfire." However, on March 10, Gulam Mustafa said, Bhutto was brought to the area where he lived in a vehicle belonging to the unit and was shot and killed. RAB summoned journalists to show the body of an alleged criminal killed in crossfire.
"They brought him and committed cold-blooded murder," Mustafa told Human Rights Watch.
Members of the Awami League were victims of RAB while in opposition, and senior party officials contended that it engaged in politically motivated killings. But the impunity the unit has enjoyed since it was established continues under the Awami League government.
Echoing their predecessors in the BNP-led government, the home minister and other government representatives deny any wrongdoing by the unit and other law enforcement agencies. Instead, they cling to the fiction that all of those killed were shot by authorities acting in self defense.
In March 2009, for example, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told Human Rights Watch that the government had no intention of investigating allegations of past human rights abuses by security forces, even though the perpetrators remained in the unit's ranks and would be likely to continue their illegal methods. Ahmed said that even though he did not condone "crossfire" killings, it should be remembered that RAB had only killed "criminals." In May 2010, despite numerous reports by human rights groups, the minister said that, "No more crossfire incidents are taking place in the country."
Home Minister Sahara Khatun, whose ministry supervises the unit, said in January 2011 in response to allegations of rising extrajudicial executions: "Many people are talking and will talk about this. But as the home minister, I am saying that the law enforcers' task is to bring the criminals to the book." When asked about allegations by Human Rights Watch on continuing extrajudicial killings, she said: "What will the law enforcers do - save themselves or die - when criminals open fire on them."
Port and Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan has said that crossfire killings are not human rights violations and that such killings have helped to bring extortion and other crimes under control.
Disappointingly, the government has not renounced any of these comments, Human Rights Watch said. Awami League officials have consistently argued that they do not need to root out abusers because they could exercise effective political control over the battalion, a claim that is belied by the evidence during the government's more than two years in office.
In a worrying development, RAB has recently begun to carry out enforced disappearances. Bangladeshi human rights groups say that it has started killing people without acknowledging any role in their deaths.
Human Rights Watch said that after seven years of widespread abuses and more than 700 deaths, if the unit's human rights record does not improve dramatically within the next six months and abusers are not prosecuted, the Bangladeshi government should disband it. In its place the government should create a new unit within the police or a new institution that puts human rights at its core to lead the fight against serious and organized crime and terrorism. Neither RAB nor any new force created should draw its forces from the military, which has a different operating culture than a civilian police force, Human Rights Watch said.
The US, UK, and Australia should insist that the Bangladesh government follow through on its commitments and ensure that there are prompt, impartial, and independent investigations into torture and deaths in the custody of the unit, Human Rights Watch said.
"Instead of an elite law enforcement unit designed to control crime and terrorism, RAB has become a deadly law breaker," said Adams. "It is now fair to ask whether the government has any intention of addressing this scourge."
Selected Testimony from the Report
"I asked them how much money they got to kill my son and told them that they could kill me in crossfire as well. One RAB officer then grabbed my neck and said, ‘Get out of here, *****. If you don't shut up, people here will kill you.' I asked him what he was doing there and if it was not his job to protect me. He then calmed down, asked me to leave and said that I could collect Pappu's body at Mitford hospital."
* Mother of Azad Hussein Pappu, killed by RAB on February 28, 2010
"The media was already there and RAB kept saying that Bhutto had been caught in a special operation. I started shouting at them, saying maybe Bhutto had done some bad things but where is the rule of law, how dare RAB kill Bhutto. The RAB officers just stared at me and said nothing, which frightened me. And then although some people supported me, a local Awami League leader came out and started raising slogans saying that Bhutto was a criminal anyway... RAB then took the body away for the autopsy. When I went to collect the body, I saw that there was only one bullet inside his ear. The police made me sign a blank sheet of paper. I didn't want to do it but then I just gave in."
* Gulam Mustafa, recounts the scene at the killing of a close relative
I was blindfolded and my hands were tied. I was forced to sit down. Four men in civilian clothes beat my legs with sugar cane stalks, while a man in RAB uniform sat on a chair watching. My legs were swollen like pillows.
* Baby Akhtar recounts her torture by RAB
Bangladesh: Broken Promises From Government to Halt RAB Killings | Human Rights Watch
---------- Post added at 01:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 AM ----------
Bangladesh must end killings by 'death squad' - report
By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka
The Bangladeshi government has failed to end extra-judicial killings carried out by a paramilitary force, Human Rights Watch says.
In a new report it catalogues a series of human rights violations blamed on the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in the past few years.
The government has strongly denied the accusations.
In December British officials in Dhaka confirmed Wikileaks reports that the UK was training some RAB members.
The course, the British officials said, focused on improving interviewing techniques, investigations and the management of crime scenes.
The latest Human Rights Watch report says at least 200 people have allegedly been killed in RAB operations since the Awami League-led government took office in early 2009.
Despite various commitments by the government, the report says, no RAB officer or official has ever been prosecuted for any of the killings or other human rights abuses.
The government says the police force is only acting against criminals and most deaths occur during shoot-outs between law enforcers and criminals.
But Manzurul Alam, whose relative was killed in a shoot-out with the police unit in 2009, says his brother-in-law was innocent.
"No police station said he was a criminal, only the RAB personnel told us that he was a criminal. Until now they can't produce any evidence whatsoever... We are still waiting for justice. We are now hopeless," he said.
Dressed in black with bandannas tied around their heads, RAB officers are a familiar sight on Bangladesh's streets.
Over the years they have developed a fearsome reputation and are credited with reducing crime and acting against Islamist militancy.
But human rights groups allege that more than 700 people have been killed by the unit since its creation in 2004.
Human Rights Watch says the government should immediately reform the RAB and hold it accountable for the killings - or the force should be disbanded.
BBC News - Bangladesh must end killings by 'death squad' - report
Government Should Disband or Radically Reform Rapid Action Battalion
May 10, 2011
*
(Dhaka) - The Bangladeshi government is failing to keep its commitment to end extrajudicial killings, torture, and other abuses by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and hold those responsible accountable, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today.
The 53-page report, "‘Crossfire': Continued Human Rights Abuses by Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion," documents abuses by RAB in and around Dhaka, the capital, under the current Awami League-led government. Nearly 200 people have been killed in RAB operations since January 6, 2009, when the government assumed office. While in opposition the Awami League promised to end extrajudicial killings, but since it came to office senior government officials have denied that RAB has committed abuses, and some have even justified them.
"After two years in office, the government has had more than enough time to take action to stop the RAB's murderous practices," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "A death squad is roaming the streets of Bangladesh and the government does not appear to be doing anything to stop it. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina needs to act."
The report builds on the 2006 Human Rights Watch report, "Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Torture and Extrajudicial Killings by Bangladesh's Elite Security Force." It is based on over 80 interviews with victims, witnesses, human rights defenders, journalists, law enforcement officials, lawyers, and judges.
Although the government has made many commitments to end the killings and to punish perpetrators, no RAB officer or official has ever been prosecuted for a "crossfire" killing or other human rights abuse. "Crossfire" is a blanket term used to justify most of the unit's killings.
The government should either make major steps towards RAB accountability and reform in the next six months or disband it, Human Rights Watch said. Donors such as the US, United Kingdom, and Australia should immediately withdraw all assistance and cooperation until and unless dramatic improvements take place.
RAB was formed in March 2004 as a composite force comprising members from the military -army, air force, and navy - the police, and members of Bangladesh's other law enforcement groups. Members are assigned from their parent organizations, to which they return after serving with the unit. RAB operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs and is commanded by an officer not below the rank of deputy inspector general of the police or the equivalent military rank. The unit is regarded as an elite counterterrorism force and indeed has targeted, apart from criminal suspects, alleged members of militant Islamist or left-wing groups.
In often standardized press statements, the unit claims that criminals were shot and killed in "crossfire" after they or their accomplices opened fire on RAB. Investigations by Human Rights Watch and Bangladeshi human rights organizations have found, however, that many victims have been executed while in the unit's custody. Bodies of those killed have often carried marks indicating that they had been tortured. Many people who survived periods in the unit's custody have alleged that they were tortured there.
In one recent case, on March 3, RAB personnel in civilian clothes picked up Rasal Ahmed Bhutto while he was minding a friend's shop in Dhaka. Bhutto's brother-in-law, Gulam Mustafa, told Human Rights Watch that one of their relatives in the army was able to contact colleagues in RAB and extract a promise that Bhutto would not be killed in "crossfire." However, on March 10, Gulam Mustafa said, Bhutto was brought to the area where he lived in a vehicle belonging to the unit and was shot and killed. RAB summoned journalists to show the body of an alleged criminal killed in crossfire.
"They brought him and committed cold-blooded murder," Mustafa told Human Rights Watch.
Members of the Awami League were victims of RAB while in opposition, and senior party officials contended that it engaged in politically motivated killings. But the impunity the unit has enjoyed since it was established continues under the Awami League government.
Echoing their predecessors in the BNP-led government, the home minister and other government representatives deny any wrongdoing by the unit and other law enforcement agencies. Instead, they cling to the fiction that all of those killed were shot by authorities acting in self defense.
In March 2009, for example, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told Human Rights Watch that the government had no intention of investigating allegations of past human rights abuses by security forces, even though the perpetrators remained in the unit's ranks and would be likely to continue their illegal methods. Ahmed said that even though he did not condone "crossfire" killings, it should be remembered that RAB had only killed "criminals." In May 2010, despite numerous reports by human rights groups, the minister said that, "No more crossfire incidents are taking place in the country."
Home Minister Sahara Khatun, whose ministry supervises the unit, said in January 2011 in response to allegations of rising extrajudicial executions: "Many people are talking and will talk about this. But as the home minister, I am saying that the law enforcers' task is to bring the criminals to the book." When asked about allegations by Human Rights Watch on continuing extrajudicial killings, she said: "What will the law enforcers do - save themselves or die - when criminals open fire on them."
Port and Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan has said that crossfire killings are not human rights violations and that such killings have helped to bring extortion and other crimes under control.
Disappointingly, the government has not renounced any of these comments, Human Rights Watch said. Awami League officials have consistently argued that they do not need to root out abusers because they could exercise effective political control over the battalion, a claim that is belied by the evidence during the government's more than two years in office.
In a worrying development, RAB has recently begun to carry out enforced disappearances. Bangladeshi human rights groups say that it has started killing people without acknowledging any role in their deaths.
Human Rights Watch said that after seven years of widespread abuses and more than 700 deaths, if the unit's human rights record does not improve dramatically within the next six months and abusers are not prosecuted, the Bangladeshi government should disband it. In its place the government should create a new unit within the police or a new institution that puts human rights at its core to lead the fight against serious and organized crime and terrorism. Neither RAB nor any new force created should draw its forces from the military, which has a different operating culture than a civilian police force, Human Rights Watch said.
The US, UK, and Australia should insist that the Bangladesh government follow through on its commitments and ensure that there are prompt, impartial, and independent investigations into torture and deaths in the custody of the unit, Human Rights Watch said.
"Instead of an elite law enforcement unit designed to control crime and terrorism, RAB has become a deadly law breaker," said Adams. "It is now fair to ask whether the government has any intention of addressing this scourge."
Selected Testimony from the Report
"I asked them how much money they got to kill my son and told them that they could kill me in crossfire as well. One RAB officer then grabbed my neck and said, ‘Get out of here, *****. If you don't shut up, people here will kill you.' I asked him what he was doing there and if it was not his job to protect me. He then calmed down, asked me to leave and said that I could collect Pappu's body at Mitford hospital."
* Mother of Azad Hussein Pappu, killed by RAB on February 28, 2010
"The media was already there and RAB kept saying that Bhutto had been caught in a special operation. I started shouting at them, saying maybe Bhutto had done some bad things but where is the rule of law, how dare RAB kill Bhutto. The RAB officers just stared at me and said nothing, which frightened me. And then although some people supported me, a local Awami League leader came out and started raising slogans saying that Bhutto was a criminal anyway... RAB then took the body away for the autopsy. When I went to collect the body, I saw that there was only one bullet inside his ear. The police made me sign a blank sheet of paper. I didn't want to do it but then I just gave in."
* Gulam Mustafa, recounts the scene at the killing of a close relative
I was blindfolded and my hands were tied. I was forced to sit down. Four men in civilian clothes beat my legs with sugar cane stalks, while a man in RAB uniform sat on a chair watching. My legs were swollen like pillows.
* Baby Akhtar recounts her torture by RAB
Bangladesh: Broken Promises From Government to Halt RAB Killings | Human Rights Watch
---------- Post added at 01:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 AM ----------
Bangladesh must end killings by 'death squad' - report
By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka
The Bangladeshi government has failed to end extra-judicial killings carried out by a paramilitary force, Human Rights Watch says.
In a new report it catalogues a series of human rights violations blamed on the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in the past few years.
The government has strongly denied the accusations.
In December British officials in Dhaka confirmed Wikileaks reports that the UK was training some RAB members.
The course, the British officials said, focused on improving interviewing techniques, investigations and the management of crime scenes.
The latest Human Rights Watch report says at least 200 people have allegedly been killed in RAB operations since the Awami League-led government took office in early 2009.
Despite various commitments by the government, the report says, no RAB officer or official has ever been prosecuted for any of the killings or other human rights abuses.
The government says the police force is only acting against criminals and most deaths occur during shoot-outs between law enforcers and criminals.
But Manzurul Alam, whose relative was killed in a shoot-out with the police unit in 2009, says his brother-in-law was innocent.
"No police station said he was a criminal, only the RAB personnel told us that he was a criminal. Until now they can't produce any evidence whatsoever... We are still waiting for justice. We are now hopeless," he said.
Dressed in black with bandannas tied around their heads, RAB officers are a familiar sight on Bangladesh's streets.
Over the years they have developed a fearsome reputation and are credited with reducing crime and acting against Islamist militancy.
But human rights groups allege that more than 700 people have been killed by the unit since its creation in 2004.
Human Rights Watch says the government should immediately reform the RAB and hold it accountable for the killings - or the force should be disbanded.
BBC News - Bangladesh must end killings by 'death squad' - report
An innocent young Bangladeshi lost his leg because of RAB torture. Even Awami regime appointed human rights commission chairman accused RAB on such brutal activities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLd2uaGqTTQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLd2uaGqTTQ
More RAB brutality
Elite Bangladeshi force accused of killings - 27 Dec 08 - YouTube
Elite Bangladeshi force accused of killings - 27 Dec 08 - YouTube
mil-avia whoever you are, just don't get excited to see some shiny arms and eye catching bandana. Human life has much greater meaning. RAB originally created for anti terror activity not regular law enforcement. RAB was successful at the very initial stage when size and scope was limited. But when RAB was expanded modeling Rokkhi bahini of 1974, it became brutal killing machine of innocent. If you don’t know what Rokkhi bahini was, ask an elder they could let fill you in.
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