US stopped RAB training for extra judicial killing

[idune]

US stopped RAB training for extra judicial killing

US States which had been providing high level training to fight crime had enough of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) extra judicial killings and asked not to include RAB officers for training. Awami League regime since came to power turned RAb into a killer force to abduct and kill political opposition. Thousands killed by RAB and then used fabricated story of "cross fire".
র্যাবকে প্রশিক্ষণ দেবে না যুক্তরাষ্ট্র : গুম খুন ও মানবাধিকারের চরম লঙ্ঘন

এলিট ফোর্স র্যাব সদস্যদের উচ্চতর প্রশিক্ষণ দেয়ার ওপর একরকমের নিষেধাজ্ঞা দিয়েছে মার্কিন সরকার। বিচারবহির্ভূত হত্যাকাণ্ড, গুম, নিখোঁজ, রাজনৈতিক হত্যাকাণ্ডসহ মানবাধিকারের চরম লঙ্ঘন ঘটানোর অভিযোগ রয়েছে এই বাহিনীটির বিরুদ্ধে। অব্যাহতভাবে মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘনের কারণেই র্যাব সদস্যদের প্রশিক্ষণ দিতে অনীহা মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের। সম্প্রতি মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের এক চিঠিতে বলা হয়েছে, মার্কিন তহবিলে পরিচালিত প্রশিক্ষণে র্যাব সদস্যদের যেন বাংলাদেশ সরকার কোনো মনোনয়ন না দেয়।
‘র্যাব কর্তৃক মানবাধিকারের গুরুতর লঙ্ঘন বন্ধ হয়েছে এবং লঙ্ঘনকারীদের বিরুদ্ধে বাংলাদেশ সরকার যথেষ্ট সংশোধনমূলক ব্যবস্থা নিয়েছে’—এমনটি নিশ্চিত হলেই এই নিষেধাজ্ঞা প্রত্যাহার করা হবে। রাজনৈতিক দল, মানবাধিকার সংস্থাগুলোর জরিপ ও প্রতিবেদনেও দেশে র্যাবসহ আইন প্রয়োগকারী সংস্থার মাধ্যমে মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘনের ভয়াবহ চিত্র পাওয়া গেছে।
র্যাবকে প্রশিক্ষণ দেবে না যুক্তরাষ্ট্র : গুম খুন ও মানবাধিকারের চরম লঙ্ঘন

 

[jaunty]

I went to the original amardesh webpage, Munshi is advertising his book in the comment section. The guy never stops his self promotion.

 

[BDforever]

US stopped RAB training for extra judicial killing

US States which had been providing high level training to fight crime had enough of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) extra judicial killings and asked not to include RAB officers for training. Awami League regime since came to power turned RAb into a killer force to abduct and kill political opposition. Thousands killed by RAB and then used fabricated story of "cross fire".

cross fire tradition started from BNP government

 

[ni8mare]

I went to the original amardesh webpage, Munshi is advertising his book in the comment section. The guy never stops his self promotion.

where bro i dont see them?

 

[the just]

Good ,about time. The spirit of this force died the day it became a political killing force.
Maybe now army will do something about politicians backstabbing among its midst.

 

[idune]

Bangladesh 'death squad' trained by UK police resumes extrajudicial killing

A Bangladeshi paramilitary unit that receives training from British police has resumed killing people in so-called "crossfire" incidents that human rights groups say are extrajudicial killings.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) – condemned by human rights group as a "death squad" – ceased the killings briefly after the existence of the British training programme was disclosed in US diplomatic cables posted on the internet by WikiLeaks last month.

However, the unit announced on 12 January that it had killed a 32-year-old man in Dhaka and since then has shot dead three more men in the capital.

According to a report published this month by the Bangladeshi rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, 133 people died in extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh last year; RAB officers were said to be responsible for the overwhelming majority.

Another human rights group, Odhikar, put the figure at 127 and said that 74 died in operations involving RAB. Around 18 of those who died were said to be communist party activists.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based NGO, has described RAB as a Bangladeshi government death squad, pointing out that senior political figures have expressed support publicly and privately for its policy of extrajudicial killings. The group has called for the UK to withdraw its support.

The leaked diplomatic cables showed that Washington is prevented by law from offering support to RAB because of its human rights abuses. RAB has admitted killing more than 600 people since its inception in 2004. Its use of torture has been documented by the UK government as well as human rights groups.

The British government does not face the same legal restraints as the US government and began offering training in late 2007, around the time that UK intelligence agencies were seeking closer counterterrorism co-operation with RAB and with Bangladeshi intelligence agencies.

Small teams of British police from forces such as West Mercia and Humberside have travelled to Bangladesh under the auspices of the National Police Improvement Agency. The leaked cables show that they offered training in "investigative interviewing techniques and rules of engagement".

Asked whether it believed it was appropriate for British officers to be training members of an organisation condemned as "a government death squad", and whether courses in investigative interviewing techniques might not render torture more effective, an NPIA spokesman said the courses had been approved by the government and by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

The Foreign Office, which funds the programme from its counterterrorism programme, said it was intended to provide "human rights and ethical policing skills training". A spokesperson said: "A decision to fund a particular project is taken only after an assessment of possible impacts and human rights implications has been completed."

Shortly after WikiLeaks posted his confidential cables on the internet, James Moriarty, US ambassador to Dhaka, said every extrajudicial killing should be investigated in a transpararent fashion by the Bangladeshi authorities.

Successive governments have promised to end RAB's use of murder. The current government promised in its manifesto that it would end all extrajudicial killings, but they have continued since its election two years ago.

In 2009 the shipping minister, Shahjahan Khan, speaking in a discussion organised by the BBC, said: "There are incidents of trials that are not possible under the laws of the land. The government will need to continue with extrajudicial killings, commonly called crossfire, until terrorist activities and extortion are uprooted."

Because RAB enjoys popular support in Bangladesh, with some sections of the population even voicing support for the extrajudicial killing of alleged criminals and terrorists, activists at Human Rights Watch and elsewhere argue that it will be disbanded only as a result of pressure from western governments.

The Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, is visiting the UK, meeting political figures, and is to speak at the Oxford Union. On Monday Lord Howells, the Foreign Office minister, told the Lords that concerns about RAB were "exactly the sort of matter" that David Cameron would be raising when he met her. Meanwhile, the human rights lawyer Phil Shiner is considering mounting court proceedings to challenge the legality of the UK's support for RAB.

Bangladesh 'death squad' trained by UK police resumes extrajudicial killing | World news | The Guardian

 

[idune]

British MP terms RAB ‘extrajudicial killing squad’

Britain’s ruling Conservative Party lawmaker Richard Fuller has accused the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of involvement in numerous extrajudicial killings.

He has also alleged RAB personnel are involved in killings and disappearance of Bangladesh’s main opposition party leaders and activists as part of a plot to eliminate the voice of dissent.

Fuller was speaking at a debate titled ‘Current Situation in Bangladesh’ at the House of Commons of Britain’s parliament on January 16 (London time). Terming RAB ‘extrajudicial killing squad’, the British politician claimed the incumbent government had completely failed to control this killer force.

In the past, different rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have expressed their concern on various occasions over extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh by using the law enforcers, specially RAB. This time, the issue has been debated at the parliament of the United Kingdom.

There should be an independent enquiry into activities of RAB, Fuller said, adding that the force should be disbanded as it had grossly violated issues related to human rights and also played role in forced disappearances of opposition political parties.

Lashing out at RAB, the British lawmaker said it was involved in 600 extrajudicial killings, though he said the force had been formed to check terror activities.

RAB, however, has always denied its involvement in any wrongdoings. It has termed Fuller’s statement a motivated one.

ATM Habibur Rahman, Director of Legal and Media Wing of RAB, said: “Fuller’s statement is unexpected and unacceptable. He has painted a wrong picture of the RAB and this is his personal view. We think it was a deliberate act to tarnish the image of the RAB.”

When asked if RAB would officially protest against Fuller’s statement, Habibur said: “The British lawmaker didn’t slam RAB solely, he actually was critical of different issues related to Bangladesh itself. That’s why we will not protest against his statement officially from our part.”

Different rights groups and political parties on many occasions have claimed the state and its ruling Awami League-led government have been patronizing extrajudicial killings and misusing the law enforcers for scoring political mileage over their rivals and also trying to eliminate the voices of dissents. It has also been alleged that RAB personnel have shot and killed innocent people on a regular basis. The case of Limon, a college student from Jhalakathi who was maimed in RAB shooting back in 2011, provoked a public outcry against the ruthless force. The incident was flayed both in Bangladesh and abroad for the RAB’s involvement in direct crime and gross human rights violations.

The latest allegation comes from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). It claims Azharul Islam, Chhatra Dal president of Satkhira’s Islamkati unit, lost his life in RAB crossfire as the force is being misused by the Awami League led government for suppressing and eliminating opposition leaders and activists.

Speaking at a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan office in Dhaka on Monday, BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “When joint forces held Azharul on Sunday, we were apprehensive that he could be killed in crossfire. Now our apprehension has come true.”

“In a similar manner, the government used its loyal forces in the past few months to kill hundreds of opposition activists,” Fakhrul claimed.

When asked, National human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman Mizanur Rahman said the commission had always protested any allegation of extrajudicial killings against RAB.

“We always raise our voice when we encounter any case of extrajudicial killing, even if the allegation is brought against RAB. On different occasions, we have expressed our concern over this issue to the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is true that rate of such type of killings fell at some point. Now, however, allegations are surfacing again,” Mizan said.

“It is high time for the state to clearly express its stance on extrajudicial killings. Otherwise, the state itself will be responsible for this,” he added.

- See more at: British MP terms RAB ‘extrajudicial killing squad’

 

[jaunty]

Bangladesh 'death squad' trained by UK police resumes extrajudicial killing

A Bangladeshi paramilitary unit that receives training from British police has resumed killing people in so-called "crossfire" incidents that human rights groups say are extrajudicial killings.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) – condemned by human rights group as a "death squad" – ceased the killings briefly after the existence of the British training programme was disclosed in US diplomatic cables posted on the internet by WikiLeaks last month.

However, the unit announced on 12 January that it had killed a 32-year-old man in Dhaka and since then has shot dead three more men in the capital.

According to a report published this month by the Bangladeshi rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, 133 people died in extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh last year; RAB officers were said to be responsible for the overwhelming majority.

Another human rights group, Odhikar, put the figure at 127 and said that 74 died in operations involving RAB. Around 18 of those who died were said to be communist party activists.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based NGO, has described RAB as a Bangladeshi government death squad, pointing out that senior political figures have expressed support publicly and privately for its policy of extrajudicial killings. The group has called for the UK to withdraw its support.

The leaked diplomatic cables showed that Washington is prevented by law from offering support to RAB because of its human rights abuses. RAB has admitted killing more than 600 people since its inception in 2004. Its use of torture has been documented by the UK government as well as human rights groups.

The British government does not face the same legal restraints as the US government and began offering training in late 2007, around the time that UK intelligence agencies were seeking closer counterterrorism co-operation with RAB and with Bangladeshi intelligence agencies.

Small teams of British police from forces such as West Mercia and Humberside have travelled to Bangladesh under the auspices of the National Police Improvement Agency. The leaked cables show that they offered training in "investigative interviewing techniques and rules of engagement".

Asked whether it believed it was appropriate for British officers to be training members of an organisation condemned as "a government death squad", and whether courses in investigative interviewing techniques might not render torture more effective, an NPIA spokesman said the courses had been approved by the government and by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

The Foreign Office, which funds the programme from its counterterrorism programme, said it was intended to provide "human rights and ethical policing skills training". A spokesperson said: "A decision to fund a particular project is taken only after an assessment of possible impacts and human rights implications has been completed."

Shortly after WikiLeaks posted his confidential cables on the internet, James Moriarty, US ambassador to Dhaka, said every extrajudicial killing should be investigated in a transpararent fashion by the Bangladeshi authorities.

Successive governments have promised to end RAB's use of murder. The current government promised in its manifesto that it would end all extrajudicial killings, but they have continued since its election two years ago.

In 2009 the shipping minister, Shahjahan Khan, speaking in a discussion organised by the BBC, said: "There are incidents of trials that are not possible under the laws of the land. The government will need to continue with extrajudicial killings, commonly called crossfire, until terrorist activities and extortion are uprooted."

Because RAB enjoys popular support in Bangladesh, with some sections of the population even voicing support for the extrajudicial killing of alleged criminals and terrorists, activists at Human Rights Watch and elsewhere argue that it will be disbanded only as a result of pressure from western governments.

The Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, is visiting the UK, meeting political figures, and is to speak at the Oxford Union. On Monday Lord Howells, the Foreign Office minister, told the Lords that concerns about RAB were "exactly the sort of matter" that David Cameron would be raising when he met her. Meanwhile, the human rights lawyer Phil Shiner is considering mounting court proceedings to challenge the legality of the UK's support for RAB.

Bangladesh 'death squad' trained by UK police resumes extrajudicial killing | World news | The Guardian

This is more than 3 years old news. So what happened when Cameron met Hasina? Any follow-up on that?

 

[idune]

This is more than 3 years old news. So what happened when Cameron met Hasina? Any follow-up on that?

Extrajudicial killing by indian backed Awami league death squad has intensified and recognition of that fact is more relevant. Your presumption Cameron meeting Hasian somehow washed away all guilt of mass killing is as shallow as indian logic can get.

 

[jaunty]

Extrajudicial killing by indian backed Awami league death squad has intensified and recognition of that fact is more relevant. Your presumption Cameron meeting Hasian somehow washed away all guilt of mass killing is as shallow as indian logic can get.

Extrajudicial killing is deplorable. Please keep exposing them on pdf. Your dedication is praiseworthy.

 

[idune]

Warning for govt, wake-up call for society at large

THE decision of the United States that ‘individual members and units of the Rapid Action Battalion are ineligible for US training and assistance as a result of gross violation of human rights which have been committed by RAB members’ appears to have elicited an unwanted and unwarranted, but not quite surprising, reaction from the top brass of the so-called elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the police. According to a report published in New Age on Thursday, in response to the decision, conveyed to the home secretary and the RAB director general on February 3 in a letter signed by the chargé d’affaires of the US embassy in Dhaka, the additional director general of the battalion asserted that ‘RAB members are competent mentally and physically, and foreign training and assistance are, therefore, not required for the force.’ Notably, the RAB official kept silent about the core of contention here, i.e. human rights violation. The not-so-implicit disregard for national and international concern over extrajudicial killing in the assertion looks to be the result of sustained impunity afforded to the battalion by successive governments since it was commissioned in 2004; the incumbent Awami League-led regime may be guiltier than others on this count.

It is ironic that the Awami League, which vociferously protested when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government commissioned the battalion, promised in its 2008 election manifesto that ‘extrajudicial killings will be stopped and professed ‘zero tolerance’ against such killings, has come to be the staunchest defender of the battalion and its murderous means since January 2009. In its previous tenure, the AL-led government persistently protected the battalion from local and international criticism and condemnation, and even the High Court’s rulings, in respect of extrajudicial killings, and defied calls for independent inquiries into every such incident. Now, the incumbents appear inclined to using the trigger-happy RAB members as partisan mercenaries even, so suggests the recent killings of several opposition activists in the name of ‘crossfire’, ‘encounter’, ‘gunfights’, etc.

The US decision indicates that the incumbents have allowed human rights violation by RAB members to become a concern for the international community. It also indicates that similar restrictions from other countries could very well be in the pipeline. The way out of such ignominy is, as the letter from the US government notes, the end to ‘gross violations of human rights by RAB’ and ‘corrective measures against the perpetrators of past abuses’. The problem is that the incumbents have thus appeared unwilling to do either. Hence, the rights conscious sections need to redouble their efforts to mobilise public opinion against extrajudicial killing by law enforcers and bring the pressure to bear on the incumbents so that they call the battalion to account and, better still, disband it altogether.

Warning for govt, wake-up call for society at large

 

[amitkriit]

No problem, countries which are friendly towards Bangladesh and do not have hypocritical stance on terrorism and authoritarian regimes can train them.

 

[idune]

No problem, countries which are friendly towards Bangladesh and do not have hypocritical stance on terrorism and authoritarian regimes can train them.

Abduction linked to case against Rab man: Mridul
Star Online Report

A gold trader in Chittagong on his release from abduction today alleged that the kidnapping has a link to a case filed against a Rab official over gold snatching.

Mridul Kumar Chowdhury was talking to reporters at Devpur police outpost in Burichang upazila of Comilla today after his release six days into his abduction from the port city.

Detailing on his allegation, Mridul referred to the case he filed with Kotwali Police Station in Chittagong against Maj Rafiqul Amin, an officer of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab)-2 of Dhaka, in December suspecting the Rab official's involvement with the snatching of 80 tolas of gold.

He however did not elaborate the reason behind his suspicion.

According to Mridul's claim he had sent a consignment of 80 tolas of liquid gold to Tantibazar area in Dhaka in December through one of his close aide.

As his aide reached Kamalapur Railway Station by Suborno Express, a gang snatched the gold from him, reports our Comilla correspondent quoting Mridul.

Unidentified criminals gave him life threats for several times over phone after the filing of the case, said a choking Mridul.

Describing his ordeal to The Daily Star, Mridul said the abductors always kept him confined in vehicles.

They also tortured him and kept him half-fed, but they did not claim ransom from him, Mridul said.

Before releasing him at a paddy field in Kangshanagar Bazar in Burichang upazila, the abductors blindfolded him, said Mridul, who was kidnapped at gunpoint near his house in Hazari Lane of the port city on February 11, said.

The kidnappers changed vehicles three times early today before releasing him around 1:00am, he added.

Abduction linked to case against Rab man: Mridul

 

[idune]

Now India trained and controlled RAB abducted and tortured hindu gold traders, that should be good news for indians.

কিছুদিন আগে ভাই মৃদুল ঢাকার সিএমএম কোর্টে ৮০ ভরি স্বর্ণ লুটের ঘটনায় র‌্যাব ২-এর মেজর রাকিবুল আমিনসহ তিনজনের বিরুদ্ধে একটি মামলা করেছিলেন। বাকি দুই অভিযুক্ত হচ্ছেন র‌্যাবের সোর্স ফাহাদ চৌধুরী টিপু ও গাড়িচালক বাবুল পাল। সন্ত্রাসীদের গ্রেপ্তার করা প্রসঙ্গে জানতে চাইলে কথা হয় নগরীর কোতোয়ালি থানার ওসি একেএম মহিউদ্দিন সেলিমের সঙ্গে। তিনি মামলা দায়েরের বিষয়টি সত্যি বলে জানান। এই বিষয়ে বলেন, প্রথম দিকে একটি জিডি করা হয়েছিল। পরে তা মামলা হিসেবে অন্তর্ভুক্ত করা হয়।

Daily Manab Zamin | চোখবাঁধা ৬ দিনের রোমহর্ষক বর্ণনা

 

[monitor]

cross fire tradition started from BNP government

Yes you are right RAB started its operation by cross firing pichi hannan and then govt. where either mum or praising the anti terrorist operation of RAB . i recall then report came our that criminal got bail but didn't bother coming out of jail in fear of cross fire and people were supporting this cross fire drama though civil society condemn it .
but now what happening can't be called anti terrorist operation but killing opposition party member in cold blood . this forces have become new raggi bahini . very recently they killed a prominent jamat lear and doctor in lakhi por in his house intentionally and in cold blood. they even wanted to killed his young son but fortunately when RAB cordon the house he safe himself by hiding in sun shed. and had the chance how his father where killed by RAB and thrown his body from rooftop calling he died falling from roof while fleeing . even when he fall on ground people around the area watches he is uttering qalema and the RAB whom came to killed him took his body and leave in front of hospital instead of taking to hospital . it is said he was targeted by *** as he was most active treating injured BNP activist who injured previous day when RAB and police killed couple of BNP activist . I heard from sources that even BAL activist where wonder that why he was killed .