BANGLADESH'S RAPID ACTION BATTALION RESPONDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000341

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/PB, DRL/FO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2018
TAGS: MASS PHUM PINR PINS PREL BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH'S RAPID ACTION BATTALION RESPONDS
POSITIVELY TO HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING

REF: 2007 DHAKA 1602

Classified By: CDA a.i. Geeta Pasi. Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Senior members of Bangladesh's Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB) said they highly valued a just-concluded
human rights course and were eager for more such training.
The United Kingdom-administered training has the potential to
quickly improve the paramilitary forces' human rights
performance via changes to procedures on custody,
interrogation and internal training. The two-week course
barely scratched the surface of needed training, however, and
there are a number of ways the USG could further improve the
battalion's human-rights record and counterterrorism
capabilities. An assessment on how to structure such training
should be a first step should a USG decision to engage the
RAB be forthcoming. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Although the RAB is Bangladesh's premier law
enforcement and counterterrorism force, the USG and other
Western nations and organizations have been reluctant to
engage it because of its historically poor, but improving,
human rights record. From March 2-13, the U.K. trained about
two dozen senior RAB members on human rights theory and
procedures. A representative each from the British Army Legal
Service and the British National Police Improvements Agency
taught the course, which was attended primarily by adjutants
and warrant officers from each of the RAB's 12 battalions.
EmbOffs visited the training at RAB headquarters -- held in a
conference room festooned with human rights-related quotes
from the likes of former U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren, 18th
Century political philosopher Edmund Burke and academic Noam
Chomsky -- on the penultimate day of training, when
participants were preparing a report of suggested changes to
improve the group's human rights practices. The trainers
praised the students for their attentiveness and enthusiasm,
and discussions between EmbOffs and four of the participants
indicated they took the subject matter seriously.


3. (SBU) Among the procedural changes suggested by the
trainees to improve RAB's human rights performance was the
creation of custody officers who would be responsible for the
proper treatment of apprehended suspects. They also wanted to
change interrogation procedures by adding a second
interrogator and by possibly videotaping the proceedings.
Participants also said they were formulating a training
program on human rights theory and practice to deliver at the
individual batallion level. They also recommended exploring
how to expand non-lethal use-of-force options. (Note: The
Department of Defense Office of Defense Cooperation is
planning a Non-Lethal Exercise Seminar in July for
Bangladeshi security forces other than the RAB that will
include training on the use of non-lethal weapons and on how
to organize non-lethal approaches to law enforcement. End
Note)


4. (C) Although the British High Commission was not
immediately prepared to discuss its plans for future RAB
training, clearly there are many opportunities for the U.S.,
the U.K. and other nations to provide training to further
improve human rights performance and counterterrorism
capabilities. The British trainers, for example, pointed to
the need for a transparent system of personal accountability
in dealing with accusations of gross violations of human
rights by RAB members. (Note: Additional Director General Col
Gulzer Uddin Ahmed told EmbOffs that since its inception in
2004 the 10,000-member force has dismissed 30-35 people for
abuse of power. Another senior RAB official responsible for
investigations of shootings that resulted in deaths said he
could not recall any that had been forwarded by local
magistrates for further judicial action. End Note.) When
asked during the training to name the RAB's weaknesses,
participants listed the lack of modern police training, of
manpower and of foreign training. Additional Director General
Gulzer said that RAB needed training to improve capacity
building, interrogation techniques, cyber-crime
investigations and intelligence collection.


5. (C) Conclusion: The two-week British course, coming on the
heels of reports that extrajudicial killings by the RAB have
declined dramatically (Reftel),is the latest sign that it is

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paying more than lip service to improving its human rights
record. These positive developments have come under the
non-partisan Caretaker Government and should be reinforced
and expanded during the remainder of the time it is in
office, namely until the end of 2008. Many RAB members are
newly arrived from their parent police and military units --
the four trainees met by EmbOffs all had joined within the
past year -- which distances them from the paramilitary
force's early excesses and may make them more receptive to
human-rights training. Embassy Dhaka supports USG engagement
with RAB to allow training to improve human rights
performance and counterterrorism capabilities. Given the
current RAB and government leadership support for these
goals, an assessment on putting an effective USG-sponsored
training program in place should commence immediately should
the USG decide to engage the RAB.
Pasi