RIHS REGISTRATION RENEWED

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000446 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2017 TAGS: PTER KCRM PREL BG SUBJECT: RIHS REGISTRATION RENEWED REF: 06 DHAKA 2001 Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, Reason(s): 1.4 (b) ¶1. (SBU) On March 13, local media reported that the the NGO Affairs Bureau of the GOB has renewed for five years the registration of the local chapter of the Kuwait-based Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS). ¶2. (SBU) We are attempting to confirm this report with GOB officials. Meanwhile, on March 14, Bangladeshi human rights watchdog organization Ain O Shalish (ASK)'s Director of Investigation, Nur Khan Liton, told us that although the GOB had banned RIHS activities, its registration had never been cancelled. Liton said that the NGO Affairs Bureau did not find any evidence that RIHS was involved in terrorist financing, and therefore renewed its registration for a standard five-year period. ¶3. (C) Comment: Senior officials of the former Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government had assured us on many occasions that RIHS was being shut down in Bangladesh and, in the process of shutdown, its expatriate staff had been sent home. In the likely event this report is correct, we will remind the government of its predecessor's assurances and remind it that one of its stated objectives on taking office on January 12 was to continue the campaign against extremism and terrorism. BUTENIS