Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DHAKA2603
2005-06-06 06:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

MEETING WITH RAB A/DG: "DUE PROCESS IS OUR

Tags:  PHUM KCRM PGOV BG 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 002603 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2010
TAGS: PHUM KCRM PGOV BG
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH RAB A/DG: "DUE PROCESS IS OUR
OBJECTIVE."

REF: DHAKA 2490

Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons 1.4 b,d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 002603

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2010
TAGS: PHUM KCRM PGOV BG
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH RAB A/DG: "DUE PROCESS IS OUR
OBJECTIVE."

REF: DHAKA 2490

Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons 1.4 b,d.


1. (C) Summary. A senior RAB officer described cross-fire
killings to us as a necessary, short-term expedient. He
appeared unaware of the Leahy amendment and its potential
impact on army officers like himself. Like all RAB
personnel, he exhibits an unmistakable swagger born from
confidence that RAB enjoys strong popular and BDG support.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) On June 5, P/E Counselor and RLA called on Col.
Chowdhury Fazlur Bari, Additional Director General of the
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB),to present a box of books on
legal matters (including the 2004 Country Human Rights
Reports) as requested to PA by RAB's librarian.


3. (C) During the one-hour meeting in his well-equipped
office in RAB's shiny HQ near Dhaka airport, Bari made the
following points:

-- Serving the Poor: RAB was set up to protect poor people
from corrupt police and violent crime. Therefore, even
though serving in RAB is not professionally enhancing for an
army officer like him, he is greatly honored, he said several
times, to serve the nation and help the poor.

-- Low Tech, Ad Hoc: Asked how RAB identifies its targets,
Bari cited tip-offs from citizens and "other sources." As an
example, he produced a recent e-mail sent to a RAB account at
Yahoo denouncing someone as a violent criminal with links to
an armed leftist group. Such tips are investigated and, he
acknowledged, sometimes turn out to be poison pens. However,
RAB takes no action against the poison pen authors since it
doesn't want to discourage any sources from stepping forward.
While RAB is reasonably well equipped in transport and
weapons, Bari described their operations as "low tech" and
dependent on the investigative expertise of police. Asked
how a corrupt police investigator could be kept honest when
seconded to RAB, Bari indicated enhanced esprit d'corps and
more diligent oversight.

-- Expansion: RAB's strength is expected to rise from 5.521
men to more than 7,000 next year. RAB personnel come from
the military (40%),police (40%),Bangladesh Rifles (10%),
and others (10%).

-- Proudest Accomplishment: RAB's success in going after

illicit arms sellers and weapons use was evident in recent
clashes at Dhaka University between rival student groups
affiliated with the AL and BNP. In contrast to prior
clashes, this time there were no weapons in sight, he said.
Asked why this success in arresting arms sellers had not led
to arrests of the sources of these weapons, Bari replied that
the latter are "white collars." He declined to elaborate.

-- Greatest Challenge: Maintaining high morale and spirit at
RAB to immunize it from the problems that plague the police.
Exemplary punishment of RAB personnel caught violating the
law (e.g. extortion) is in the works and would be an
effective deterrent.

-- Politicization: RAB would not execute any order targeting
a political person for political reasons. "Ethos would stop
me from accepting a political assassination." (Comment:
Interestingly, Bari interpreted a question about potential
RAB politicization in the upcoming election as a reference to
political killings.)

-- Indian Insurgents: The Indian "insurgents" BDR and RAB
clashed with last weekend (reftel) belonged to groups like
ULFA. They have no base in Bangladesh, but do periodically
cross the border in search of respite from Indian forces.

CROSS-FIRES
--------------


4. (C) P/E counselor recounted USG concerns about
extra-judicial killings and the implications for Bangladesh,
RAB, and army officers who serve in RAB of the Leahy
amendment. He noted the numbers -- more than 100 in one year
-- and the template explanation for these midnight deaths
suggested a serious, systemic problem. Bari replied that it
was only natural that RAB returned fire in self-defense when
fired on, but he had no explanation for the unchanging
pattern of cross-fire incidents. He quickly segued into
arguing that RAB's actions against "well-known criminals" are
popular because they have brought relief to a desperate
population. "We are a poor, third world nation of 140
million people," he said. "What is 100-200 persons in that
situation?" He described RAB as an immediate response to a
severe problem, adding, "Our objective is due process."


5. (C) Noting that RAB was loosely founded on a FBI model,
Bari expressed an interest in FBI training. When P/E
counselor replied that such a partnership was unlikely given
the cross-fire controversy, Bari asked, "Who then should we
get training from?"

COMMENT
--------------

6 (C) Like all RAB personnel, from the street operators to
senior officers, Bari has an unmistakable swagger. RAB knows
it is popular, has strong BDG support, and, in the upcoming
BDG budget, its own line item. As befits a Bangladesh Army
officer who is a veteran of two UN peacekeeping operations,
Bari is also articulate, confident, controlled, and
hospitable. He addressed a wide range of issues with varying
degrees of frankness. Like his political superiors in the
BDG, he makes virtually no effort to deny that extra-judicial
killings occur as a matter of policy, instead defending them
at length as a necessary, short-term expedient. He appeared
unaware of the Leahy amendment and its implication for
military officers who serve in RAB.
THOMAS