The Rapid Action Battalion has enjoyed strong public support for routinely killing alleged criminals. But is it always acting within the law?
Limon Hossein had just been accepted into college when he was shot by black-clad police from Bangladesh’s elite Rapid Action Battalion. The 16-year-old was tending to his cows near his village of Jhalakati in southern Bangladesh when several members of the feared ‘RAB’ arrived on motorbikes and zeroed in on him.
‘When I was bringing in the third cow, I was grabbed by my collar by one of the RAB officers, who said “you are a criminal, you are a terrorist”,’ Limon said, recalling the March attack. Despite his protests he was dragged to another part of the village, where one officer put a gun against his left leg and pulled the trigger. ‘The RAB officer didn’t even ask for my name, or where I was from or what I was doing.’
The teenager’s case has triggered an outpouring of criticism of the RAB, which generally enjoys strong support in Bangladesh for its routine killing of those it accuses of being ‘criminals’ and ‘terrorists.’ The force claims Limon was part of a local gang injured in a shoot-out with RAB commandos, but local journalists and rights activists have questioned the account, calling attention to the battalion’s brutal tactics.
Though he survived the attack, delays getting Limon to a hospital meant doctors were forced to amputate his left leg above the knee. He remains stranded at another hospital in the capital Dhaka, living off private donations and learning to walk using a new prosthetic leg. After so many months in the city, the family’s money is quickly running out and Limon’s father Mohammed Toffazel Hossein says he is worried for his son’s welfare if he is forced to return to Jhalakati. ‘I’m scared the RAB will try to hurt him,’ he says. ‘The state should take responsibility for their actions.’
The RAB, composed of elite members of the army and navy, was formed in March 2004 to target the armed criminal gangs and extortion rackets operating in many parts of Bangladesh. Its officers, clad in pitch-black uniforms with bandannas and mirror shades, soon became a common—and imposing—fixture on the streets of Dhaka, earning a reputation for ruthless efficiency. Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary of the local human rights group Odhikar, says RAB committed its first extrajudicial killing on the fifth day of its operations in 2004. ‘Since then they are operating with impunity,’ he says.
According to a recent report by Amnesty International, the force has been responsible for the unlawful killing of ‘at least’ 700 people since its inception. Despite promises by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to halt extrajudicial killings when she came to power in early 2009, Amnesty claims at least 200 deaths have occurred on her watch.
Earlier this month, five alleged muggers were shot dead in Dhaka’s Uttara district, but questions remain over the officers’ use of deadly force. The RAB routinely claims its victims were involved in criminal activity and were killed by crossfire or in ‘shoot-outs’ with the authorities, and rights activists say no RAB officer has ever been prosecuted or held to account for any killing.
‘RAB officers accused of human rights violations have remained outside the purview of law,’ says Abbas Faiz, a South Asia researcher for Amnesty International. ‘There’s a strong perception within Bangladesh that RAB, if not directly controlled by the army, is at least protected by it against any form of judicial punishment for human rights violations.’
But RAB’s take-no-prisoners approach to petty criminals has won it widespread popularity. A US diplomatic cable from August 2008 claims that alongside human rights concerns, ‘there’s a widespread belief within civil society that RAB has succeeded in reducing crime and fighting terrorism.’ It described the force as ‘in many ways Bangladesh’s most respected police unit.’
Photo Credit: WikiCommons
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Jahangir Akash
RAB’s torturing and killing is the clear violation of the Constitution of Bangladesh and International Law. Only by the RAB around 1000 people have been killed since 2004. And it is documented. But according to the secret sources, RAB killed more than 7000 people (including secret murder, kidnapp…) in Bangladesh since the birth of RAB. Many journalist have been tortured by RAB including F M Masum, Jahangir Alam Akash (Editor of Euro Bangla, http://www.eurobangla.org/). RAB should be disbandded immediately for the interest of human rights. Personally, I was tortured brutally by RAB. Now I am homeless only for RAB and the Mayor of Rajshahi (AHM Khairuzzaman Liton). I would like to share that black story with all of you. Please visit this link- http://www.virkelig.no/artikler/317-var-nye-venn-akash.html
Thousands people are waiting to see the Justice. But how it comes where there is Justice is confined by the injust in Bangladesh?
Yasin
I am a commoner in Bangladesh and i whole heartedly support RAB and it’s activities because they are the only law enforcement organisation in the country that do not take orders from politicians , powerful media, high ranking officials of different Govt organisation and rich businessmen that most of others do. Extrajudicial killing??? LOL….
Kazi Azizul Huq
So far we understand, RAB is embedded with the UK-USA’s so-called “War on Terror”
Ryan
RAB is not only composed of the military personnel, but also Police and Ansar (Government Security Arm). And it has a very bad reputation when it comes to respecting the human rights. It is true that it does often kill the criminals, but a lot of time they are used to eliminate political opponents. They also harass the public for no legitimate reasons at their check-points. Also when they shoot up innocent by-standers, it is a common practice in Bangladesh to term it as killing criminals, even though the by-stander didn’t have any criminal connections. All law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh it seems are above the law. And Limon’s case is just another such example. All these illegal activities of the law enforces goes to show the level of lawlessness that prevails in Bangladesh, after all when law enforcers have no faith in the law or doesn’t want to abide by the law and remains above the law, others also are encouraged to break the law. It is the law abiding citizens who are harassed and punished for following the law in Bangladesh, while law breakers (i.e. RAB, Politicians, Millionaires etc.)remains above the law.
trisonics
Why would any person or force would simply go and shoot somebody without any reason(s)? I don’t think the boy would have survived if the RAB was out to kill him. If that was the case, the boy would have been shot in head, not in leg.