Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DHAKA4189
2005-08-23 08:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

RAB ANNIVERSARY ANALYSIS

Tags:  PHUM 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 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)

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