RAB ANNIVERSARY ANALYSIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAKA 004189 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2015 TAGS: PHUM PGOV BG SUBJECT: RAB ANNIVERSARY ANALYSIS REF: A. A. DHAKA 00345 ¶B. B. DHAKA 03692 Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough reasons para 1.5 (b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The controversial Rapid Action Battalion has developed into a popular fixture in the BDG's otherwise lowly-regarded law enforcement architecture, thanks mostly to its perceived crime-busting prowess built on its 117 "cross-fire," or extrajudicial, killings of criminal suspects. RAB's swagger and access to resources make it the envy of other police units. END SUMMARY ¶2. (SBU) The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is a para-military police unit that was designed to address escalating popular uproar over violent crime, and became operational in June 2004 under the supervision of the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to a senior military officer seconded to RAB's leadership (ref a),RAB's aim was to "protect poor people from corrupt police and violent crime," and that due process is its eventual objective. RAB's size and support structures have grown markedly since its launch to the point that it now has the feel of a permanent institution, and not the interim measure, it was once billed as. Profile -------------- ¶3. (SBU) RAB now has seven units totaling 5,521 men, and plans to create four more battalions with more than 7,000 men by next year. Battalions are deployed around the country, including Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Chittagong. The Bangladesh National Police, by contrast, have 116,000 personnel. RAB is comprised of seconded from the military (40 percent) and the police (another 40 percent),with the remainder from other military and paramilitary bodies. RAB has arrested nearly 5,000 persons for petty and major crimes. ¶4. (SBU) As RAB's reputation for getting results grew, so did its mandate, from capturing criminal kingpins to: performing general internal security duties, especially during holidays or VIP events; gathering intelligence on criminals and criminal activities; recovering illicit arms, ammunition, and explosives; rescuing human trafficking victims; recovering narcotics; investigating major loan defaults; and spearheading operations against alleged Indian insurgents in the northeastern border areas. According to press reports, on August 19 and 20, RAB arrested two police sergeants responsible for selling four AK-47 rifles lost from the Chittagong arms haul on April 2. During the Eid-al-Adha holiday, when it is customary to sacrifice a cow, RAB's presence at the large cattle markets was credited for keeping away the extortionists who normally exploit peak seasons. An editorial in the Financial Express in June praised RAB for making "all the difference in the construction sector as in other areas of trade and industry" by cutting down on extortionists at construction sites. ¶5. (C) RAB's distinct swagger stems from its atypically sharp appearance (black uniforms and bandannas),its unquestioned popularity, its reputation for getting results and being (relatively) honest, and its disciplined and professional public comportment. It also has a slick website, and is favored in the allocation of resources. It reportedly has digital tracking systems, is building an air wing, has floated tenders and sought assistance from the U.S. and other countries for equipment and training, and is building a training school and its own forensic lab. While there is no RAB line item in the new BDG budget, the police development budget quadrupled from about $6.5 million dollars to $26.9 million dollars. ¶6. (C) Despite fears RAB would become politicized and a blunt instrument against the political opposition, and Awami League allegations that RAB has gone after it that it has been unable to document, RAB appears to have remained focused on criminals, many notorious with long records of violent offenses. However, the widespread connections between politicians in both the AL and the BNP with criminals sometimes muddy the waters. In the context of Bangladesh's infamously corrupt and politicized police, RAB's focus on "real" criminals has further enhanced its popularity. One BDG minister recently told us that some of his party colleagues want to dismantle RAB before the caretaker government takes power out of fear that RAB would go after high-ranking government officials involved with corruption and other crimes. (Comment: As the minister acknowledged, dismantling RAB is a very remote prospect.) The Downside -------------- ¶7. (C) In the past several months, largely English-language newspapers began to report on incidents of RAB corruption and abuses of power. A RAB sergeant from the air force, for example, was caught red handed extorting money from petty traders, and four RAB four members stole approximately $12,000 from a cattle trader in Mirpur. Other cases included bribery and inappropriate involvement in property disputes, as well as robberies in Dhaka, Chuadanga, Fatullah, and Brahmanbaria. In April, several newspapers ran editorials critically scrutinizing RAB's record and its increasingly clear disdain for due process. Home Minister of State of Babar was prompted to warn RAB members, "If a RAB member fails to keep discipline, the government will act tough against him." Following Babar's warning, at least 109 RAB members have reportedly been internally disciplined for criminal and other offenses, though notably not for cross-fire killings, according to local press reports. Punishments included dismissal from service and imprisonment. ¶8. (C) RAB's best known feature, and the practice credited for making streets safer, is so-called "cross-fire" killings, the extra-judicial execution of detainees and criminal suspects. The story is virtually the same every time: as a suspect leads RAB to an arms cache or the hideout of cohorts, a firefight breaks out that ends up killing the suspect. In theory, a magistrate investigates every "cross-fire" death, but every shooting thus far has been upheld as lawful. Through July 2005, there have been 117 RAB cross-fires. The cross-fire phenomenon spread to the rest of the police, which is now wracking up nearly three times as many cross-fires as RAB, or 245 since June 2004. ¶9. (C) The BDG's almost open endorsement of RAB's extra-judicial killings fostered RAB's aura of impunity which, not surprisingly, has led to several high-profile cases of abuse of power. In June, RAB "cross-fired" someone in a clear case of mistaken identity, and there have been several cases where persons with no criminal record were killed. In a widely publicized incident, a businessman who intervened when off-duty plainclothes RAB officers were beating up someone on the street after a minor traffic incident ended up being beat and tortured himself; only prompt action by an influential personal contact saved him from further abuse and possible cross-fire (ref b). Police and other law enforcement elements have threatened suspects with cross-fire to force them to confess or provide other information. ¶10. (C) From RAB's outset, BDG leaders have condoned and justified cross-fires as popular and effective in bringing down notorious criminals. The Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the Law Minister, and Foreign Minister are just a few of the officials who tell us RAB acts in self-defense or that cross-fire victims are just criminals who deserve their fate. Law Minister Ahmed actually told us that the rights of the long-suffering majority should trump the rights of a few criminals. Home Minister of State Babar once complained to the press that "when criminals are being killed in encounters, human rights organizations speak out. But when policemen get killed by them (criminals),no one speaks about human rights." ¶11. (C) In this climate, Bangladeshi human rights organizations are reluctant to take on RAB. One exception Ain-O-Salish Kendro, which released a book in June denouncing RAB as a propagator of "state-sponsored terrorism." But at its ceremony launching the book, members of a support group of victims of criminals killed by RAB heckled the proceedings. When the visiting Deputy Attorney General of New Jersey, a Bangladeshi-American, voiced her concerns about RAB and extrajudicial killings to 100 entry-level officials at the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center, the audience scorned her use of the term "extra-judicial killings." One person stated, to great applause: "The government has taken the decision (to give RAB a free hand) for the good of the nation" and eliminate "social weaknesses." Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) RAB is easily the most successful initiative of this BNP government, which can apparently turn on and turn off the cross-fire tap more or less at will. In March and April, there was a dramatic drop in killings after we pressed the BDG hard on the issue and warned it about Leahy amendment implications, and there was also a clear lull before and during Home Minister of State Babar's recent visit to the U.S. By BNP calculations, it has much more to lose than gain by ending cross-fires, and in a country where there is little public confidence in law enforcement, government institutions in general, or the rule of law, it is hard to convince ordinary people that they should respect the concept of due process and consider the longer-term consequences of extra-judicial murder. CHAMMAS