US senators demand sanction on RAB officials engaged in 'extrajudicial killings'
The Foreign Relations Committee of the United State Senate has called on Trump administration to impose sanction on senior commanders of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) saying they have killed a lot more than 400 persons extrajudicially since 2015.
A team of eight senators led by Senator Todd Young sent a letter to the administration expressing concerns over multiple human right abuses beyond these extrajudicial killings, according to a press release of the united states Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.
In a bipartisan letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, the Senators urged the administration to impose targeted sanctions on senior RAB commanders under applicable authorities, including the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Section 7031(c) of the FY 2020 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act.
Dear Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Mnuchin:
We write expressing our serious concern about the ongoing human rights violations reportedly perpetrated by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of the Bangladesh Police. Since 2015, the RAB has reportedly extrajudicially killed more than 400 people, and the RAB has been credibly implicated in many cases of enforced disappearances and torture. These violations seem to be part of a broader crackdown on dissent by the ruling Awami League, and the RAB is not held to account. We urge you to impose targeted sanctions on senior RAB commanders in charge of these gross human rights violations under all applicable authorities, including the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Section 7031(c) of the FY 2020 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act.
Extrajudicial killings by the RAB have reportedly spiked since the Government of Bangladesh began its ‘war on drugs’ in the months ahead of the December 2018 elections. In a June 2018 communication to the federal government of Bangladesh, UN professionals including the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution wrote that the ‘war on drugs’ “is apparently a deliberate policy of extrajudicial killings” and urged the federal government to get rid of it and respect the rule of law and human rights. However, the federal government has didn't end these abuses and the RAB continues to commit extrajudicial killings with impunity.
In practically all cases, the RAB claims that such extrajudicial killings result from “gunfights” or “crossfire,” but documentation from reputable human rights organizations demonstrates that victims were often in RAB custody if they were killed, and several of their bodies show signs of death by execution, instead of a “gunfight.” Amnesty International in addition has documented alleged witnesses to RAB “gunfights” saying they didn't witness such a thing and that they were coerced into providing fabricated statements. In a single well-known case, an audio recording of the killing of municipal councilor Ekramul Haque reveals RAB officers giving directions to stage a “gunfight” once they executed him. Directions from RAB officers included planting drugs and bullets in Mr. Haque’s pockets, untying his hands, scattering empty bullet shells around the scene, and shooting at a local vehicle.
In addition to extrajudicial killings, UN experts, journalists, and human rights groups have documented cases of the RAB committing enforced disappearances and widespread torture, like the 2019 abduction and suspected torture by the RAB of three men whose employer had a dispute with a high-ranking Government of Bangladesh official. Among those men is thought to have died of wounds incurred through the RAB torture.3 Many victims of extrajudicial killing are also forcibly disappeared for days or months ahead of being extrajudicially killed in “gunfights.”
These cases illustrate a pattern of gross human rights violations that the Rapid Action Battalion and its senior leadership have faced no consequences. U.S. law requires action when confronted with gross violations of human rights. We urge you to respond strongly to the RAB’s ongoing violations by using all applicable authorities to impose targeted sanctions on senior RAB commanders, including Global Magnitsky and Section 7031(c) sanctions.
Signatories to the letter are:
Robert Menendez
Ranking Member
Todd Young
United States Senator
Benjamin L. Cardin
United States Senator
Cory Gardner
United States Senator
Jeanne Shaheen
United States Senator
Marco Rubio
United States Senator
Christopher S. Murphy
United States Senator
Christopher A. Coons
United States Senator
Jeffrey A. Merkley
United States Senator
Cory A. Booker
United States Senator
