This is not a new James Bond 007 movie. This is a true story about the most notorious terror organization in Bangladesh. One that enjoys official status and termed as an ‘elite force’. Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] was established on March 26, 2004 and since its establishment, a total of 472 alleged criminals have so far been killed in the name of “crossfire” or “encounter” between associates of the so-called criminals and RAB members. We've noticed.
Article 32 of the Constitution of the PeoplesÂ’ Republic of Bangladesh provides that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty save in accordance with law. However, legalization of extra judicial executions has reduced such constitutional guarantees to mere inscriptions. As many as 111 people were extra judicially executed by the law enforcement personnel in the country from 1 January to 30 September 2004 in comparison to 56 killings in 2003. at least 43 people have been killed by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) alone mostly in `crossfireÂ’ since it launched operations.
Formed by an executive order of 1 March 2004, the RAB has the reported strength of 4,525 personnel, drawn from five military and para-military forces - army, air force, navy, Bangladesh Rifles and Ansar and Bangladesh Police. The deployment of members of the armed forces in combat areas amounts to the imposition of undeclared emergency. The members of the armed forces, which are not disciplined in policing, have been responsible for blatant extra judicial executions of the alleged criminals.
Former adviser and Executive Director of Ain o Salish Kendra Sultana Kamal said, “Death in so-called crossfire is unconstitutional and whatever the number, it is a matter of grave concern to me as an activist.”
The US Department of State, in its annual report “Human Rights Practices 2007” on Bangladesh, also said security forces including Bangladesh Rifles, military and RAB committed numerous extra-judicial killings while the government did not take any action or initiate any public measure to investigate the cases. Human rights lawyers in Bangladesh say they are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of suspects dying while in the custody of the elite anti-crime force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
A recent press report said, Rapid Action Battalion has so far taken punitive measures against its 535 members for anti-disciplinary activities and around 200 of them either lost their jobs or suffered the indignity of jail.
But, despite such actions, it is now alleged that, RAB is gradually turning into a Frankenstein, which ignores human rights and continues various forms of extra judicial activities. There are hundreds of allegations against RAB officials for being involved in extortion, abduction, rape and even dealing in drugs and weapons. Some of the members of RAB use organized black mailing rackets to trap innocent people and finally extract money from the victims with various excuses.
In an average week, two or three people are killed in incidents involving the RAB. The authorities say most deaths happen during shoot-outs between law enforcers and criminals. These incidents have become so frequent that a new term has been coined in the country - “Death by crossfire”.
Yeah, we never really believed them either
Because of the many innocent people, who died in RAB custody, people here are comparing RAB with any extremist Islamist or terror group. They are no different than Jamaatul Mujahedin [JMB], which are both killing innocent people for no obvious reason.
Well, they may not all be so innocent.
The Bangladesh High Court recommended the incorporation of the following provisions:
- Police must disclose their identity to the relatives of the person before arrest from the residence or office;Of course, these "provisions" may be why so many "innocent civilians" are "resisting arrest" and never make it to the station.
- Police must inform the relatives of the arrested person over telephone or by sending special messenger within three hours of arrest from out side the residence or office. Medical check up of the person must have to be done after arrest;
- No detention after arrest under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code;
- No remand under police custody under section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code;
- Only the investigating officer to interrogate the alleged accused in the jail custody, but no other agency;
- Use of a separate glass covered room in the jail custody for interrogation and the relatives or lawyer of the accused can observe it;
- Examination of medical report of the accused, special diary opened after arrest, hearing of the accused and his lawyers have to be taken into consideration if the magistrate wants to grant remand in other cases;
- The magistrate must show the reasons to grant remand. The remand order passed by the magistrate has to be approved by the District and Sessions Judge or Metropolitan Sessions Judge;
- The magistrate should take action against the investigating officer if there is any allegation of torture to the accused during the remand and the allegation proved through medical examination;
- Enhance the punishment for illegal confinement under section 220 and for custodial torture under 248 of the Penal Code from two years to seven years and fine.
Unfortunately, the directions by the High court had little impact as the extrajudicial executions by the RAB continue to indicate.
Impunity accentuates illegal measures that the High Court sought to address. On 23 February 2003, the Bangladesh Sangshad (Parliament) passed the Joint Drive Indemnity Act barring people from seeking justice through the courts for the deaths and human rights violations that occurred during the “Operation Clean Heart” anti-crime drive, which ended in the custodial death of 51 persons and involved an unknown number of torture victims. Despite intervention of the High Court on 13 April 2003 by issuing a show cause notice to the government regarding the legality of the Indemnity Act, the law continues to be in force and therefore no action is maintainable before the courts of law. In the few instances where charges were levied, punishment of those found guilty was predominantly administrative. The RAB personnel enjoy similar impunity and the courts can do little. RAB has been openly resorting to blatant human rights violations including extra judicial executions.