Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DHAKA345
2005-01-26 13:19:00
SECRET
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

AS POLICE "CROSSFIRES" SOAR, RAB NEARS THE 100 MARK

Tags:  PGOV PHUM 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.
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000345 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BG BG
SUBJECT: AS POLICE "CROSSFIRES" SOAR, RAB NEARS THE 100 MARK

REF: 04 DHAKA 02742

Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.5 d

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000345

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BG BG
SUBJECT: AS POLICE "CROSSFIRES" SOAR, RAB NEARS THE 100 MARK

REF: 04 DHAKA 02742

Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.5 d


1. (C) SUMMARY: Spurred by a sharp spike the last three
months, the 240 killings by police reported in 2004 are
triple the 2003 figure. Of the 2004 total, 169 are
"crossfires," or thinly-veiled extra-judicial killings.
Although RAB accounts for fewer than half the crossfires, it
retains preeminent popular support for spearheading what is
seen as an effective strategy against lawlessness. Based on
October-January figures, Bangladesh's 2005 crossfire tally
could exceed 500. The RAB phenomenon has serious
implications for USG interests, including the 2007 general
election. END SUMMARY

The Record
--------------


2. (SBU) The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB),a paramilitary law
enforcement unit launched in June 2004, consists of
approximately 70 percent military and 30 percent police
personnel (reftel). Its seven battalions, with a strength of
5500 officers and men, are deployed in Dhaka, Rajshahi,
Khulna, and Chittagong. RAB reports to the Home Ministry,
and has seen its mandate grow from being an elite anti-crime
strike force to providing security at VIP functions,
important religious gatherings, opposition demonstrations,
and at transport hubs and shopping centers during peak
holiday seasons. Most recently, it entered the Bangla Bhai
fray by arresting alleged followers of the self-styled
Islamist vigilante. The BDG says it plans to create four
more RAB battalions, including two in Sylhet and Barisal.


3. (SBU) In its first month, RAB began reporting the death by
"crossfire" of people in its custody. With almost no
variation, the explanatory press statement asserted that a
detained suspect died in an ensuing exchange of gunfire after
the suspect led RAB to an area containing an arms cache or
the hideout of comrades. Regular police units and two
smaller, lower-profile police units, the Cheetahs and the
Cobras, began reporting similar incidents.


4. (SBU) According to figures compiled by Odhikar, a
prominent human rights NGO:

-- In 2004, the 240 police killings broke down to: RAB-79
(including 63 crossfires); regular police-128 (86
crossfires); Cheetahs/Cobras/Others-33 (20 crossfires).


-- Of the 2004 killings, a big majority (169) came in the
last three months.

-- So far in 2005, there have been 43 killings with 38
crossfires.


5. (SBU) RAB's 2004 victims included one infamous "listed"
criminal, Pichchi Hannan, but most were local and generally
unknown "terrorists" (defined as anyone from a thug to an
organized crime member). At least several dozen crossfire
victims included persons with AL or BNP links. Opposition
figures alleged that Hannan and victims with BNP links were
killed to protect BNP "godfathers." The most prominent
political victim has been Mofakhar Hossain Chowdhury, General
Secretary of the Purbo Banglar Communist Party, a violent

SIPDIS
gangster masquerading as an ideologue whose demise evoked
general approval.

The Reaction
--------------

6.(C) From the outset of RAB's rampage, senior BDG ministers
have made little effort to conceal their satisfaction with
the crossfires. Even the Law Minister, the BDG's foremost
legal adviser, stressed to us that the victims are "all
terrorists and criminals," and that Bangladeshis welcome
RAB's actions as a major blow for law and order. Last year,
Home Minister of State Lutofzzaman Babar, RAB's boss, told
PolFSN, "Let us not discuss it. The people are happy and even
the judges are happy about it." Babar said that he gets
hundreds of calls from people blessing him after each
crossfire and judges encourage him to continue "the good
work." He justified RAB as a short-term tactic pending his
long-term reform and streamlining of BDG law enforcement
agencies. On January 25, PM Zia told a BNP rally that the
opposition (Awami League) is against RAB because RAB has
sidelined opposition "terrorists."


7. (C) Contacts across the spectrum tell us that RAB's
actions and deterrent value have improved law and order.
Even anti-BDG businessmen say there has been a noticeable
drop in threats and extortion demands directed at them and
their businesses. Against this backdrop, few Bangladeshis
are willing to express public concerns about RAB. On the
political front, only Awami League leaders have condemned
"crossfire" deaths, calling them politically-motivated
executions. Two human rights NGO's, including Odhikar, keep
a tally of RAB/police killings but have not noticeably
campaigned against them. In one conspicuous exception,
eminent barrister and political gadfly Dr. Kamal Hussein told
reporters, "The word crossfire now should refer to inflicting
capital punishment without trial."


8. (SBU) Many Bangla media have hailed RAB as long-overdue
comeuppance for criminals. Jamaat Islami's newspaper and the
Islamist-oriented Inquilab effusively praise RAB and
disparage RAB's critics as anti-Bangladeshi foreign pawns.
English-language newspapers are somewhat more skeptical;
several have reported details of "crossfires" that did not
conform to the official version, and many routinely carry
"crossfire" in quotes. Although RAB accounts for fewer than
half the reported crossfires, it continues to get
disproportionately intense media coverage.


9. (SBU) An important part of RAB's popular appeal is its
swagger. While police officers generally look like park
rangers armed with a hodge-podge of dilapidated weaponry, RAB
personnel are fit and nattily attired in ninja black
uniforms, complete with a black bandanna on their heads and
often with dark sunglasses. Their weaponry looks like it
works, and the demeanor of RAB personnel, indicative of their
military training, conveys alertness and seriousness of
intent.

Comment
--------------

10 (S) Weary of rampant criminality and political thuggery,
Bangladeshis two years ago applauded Operation Clean Heart,
the military's anti-crime crackdown that produced a reported
46 deaths in custody, many attributed to "heart attacks." To
little evident disapproval, Parliament ended up indemnifying
the military against those deaths. Unlike Operation Clean
Heart, however, RAB is perceived as making a real dent
against crime. Politically, RAB is easily the BDG's most
popular initiative in its three years in office.


11. (S) There seems little doubt that crossfire killings are
sanctioned and directed by the BDG. "Crossfires" existed
before RAB, but it was only with RAB's debut, in June, that
the numbers jumped and spread to the rest of the police.
RAB's success in finding, and killing, criminals stands in
stark contrast to the police's inability to find the
perpetrators of high-profile attacks on the British High
Commissioner and the AL leadership at the August 21 rally.
At this point, however, it appears that a BNP or AL
affiliation of a crossfire victim is largely coincidental and
reflects only the pervasive criminality of Bangladeshi
politics. It is interesting, though, that few if any of
RAB's crossfire victims include people linked to Jamaat
Islami or its violent student front. RAB could become more
politicized since its creators and bosses are Home Minister
of State Babar, a BNP MP with alleged Islamist sympathies,
and Home Secretary Omar Farooq, who has long-standing Jamaat
Islami associations. As the run-up to the general election
expected in early 2007 becomes more confrontational and the
BNP pulls out all the stops to win another term, it is easy
to imagine RAB playing a more partisan, and covert, political
role.


12. (C) South Asia has a history of police "encounters" and
"crossfires" that end up killing notorious or otherwise
problematic persons, but the scope and scale of crossfires
occurring now in Bangladesh are exceptional; if RAB and the
police maintain the pace of the last four months, crossfire
deaths in 2005 could exceed 500. Although Bangladeshis don't
appear concerned, the RAB phenomenon has immensely negative
implications for Bangladesh and USG interests. When the
number of RAB crossfires, now at 93, hits 100, we will send
suggested text for a statement by the press spokesman.
THOMAS