ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE PUSHES HOME MINISTER FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000615 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL KGOV BG SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE PUSHES HOME MINISTER FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY AMONG SECURITY FORCES REF: DHAKA 555 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Robert ¶O. Blake told the Bangladesh Home Affairs Minister counterterrorism cooperation could expand greatly if Bangladesh's security forces became more accountable and transparent. The minister, Advocate Shahara Khatun, responded that the Government of Bangladesh would never support extrajudicial killings by security forces. The minister also asked for U.S. moral support for trials of people accused of war crimes during Bangladesh's fight for independence from Pakistan in 1971. The A/S urged that any such trials be held to international standards and be free of politics. The Home Minister expressed eagerness to expand counterterrorism cooperation as well as great interest in more training for police. (Comment: We will continue to monitor closely how the GOB responds to a sharp increase in possible extrajudicial killings by security forces in recent weeks. End Comment.) -------------- GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY SOUGHT -------------- ¶2. (C) Assistant Secretary Blake commended the excellent counterterrorism cooperation between the U.S. and Bangladesh but said there remained a lot of work to be done. In particular, he urged greater cooperation against international groups that operate in Bangladesh such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT). When he asked for details about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's vision for a regional security task force, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder said the Government of Bangladesh was seeking participation not only among South Asian countries but among neighbors such as Burma and Thailand as well. He noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and not the Ministry of Home Affairs, was developing the regional strategy. ¶3. (C) Assistant Secretary Blake noted progress in U.S. and Bangladesh collaboration to stand up a special operations force within the Bangladesh Navy and said cooperation with other Bangladesh security forces would be strengthened if they were to adopt accountability measures. In particular, the U.S. Government was seeking greater accountability among the country's elite counterterrorism force, the Rapid Action ;Battalion (RAB),which had long been accused of not credibly investigating possible extrajudicial killings by its members. A/S Blake noted the arrival in Dhaka of two U.S. Marshals who were to spend three months working with RAB to put in place accountability systems such as an internal affairs function. -------------- KHATUN: GOB OPPOSES EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS -------------- ¶4. (C) Although several recent incidents of shooting deaths of criminal suspects by RAB have led to renewed allegations of human rights violations, Minister Khatun insisted the Government did not support extrajudicial killings. She welcomed the U.S. Marshals, but she and her subordinates appeared to misunderstand the purpose of the Marshals' mission. She referred to them as trainers. Ambassador Moriarty outlined the Marshals' mission, which, he said, was to help RAB put in place systems to provide a full accounting of what transpired whenever RAB officers drew their weapons. The Home Secretary, who is the ministry's top civil servant, suggested the Marshals would gain a better understanding of RAB if they participated in a counterterrorism operation. Separately, he asked for more operational training for police under the Department of State's Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) program, which already provided several courses each year in areas such as VIP protection and bomb disposal. -------------- PLEA FOR SUPPORT FOR WAR CRIMES TRIALS -------------- ¶5. (C) The Home Secretary also asked for U.S. Government cooperation in the anticipated trials of individuals suspected of war crimes during Bangladesh's fight for independence from Pakistan in 1971. When Assistant Secretary Blake asked what specifically Bangladesh wanted the U.S. to do, the Home Minister said her government was seeking moral DHAKA 00000615 002 OF 002 support. Blake said the U.S. Government shared the Government of Bangladesh's interest in accountability but noted the war crimes issue was a sensitive topic. He said the prosecution of alleged war criminals must not undermine the country's democracy and must not be seen as an attempt to smear political opponents. The Home Secretary promised the proceedings would be open to domestic and international scrutiny. -------------- -------------- COMMENT: MESSAGE DELIVERED; IS BANGLADESH LISTENING? -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Both Bangladesh and the U.S. are eager to broaden security cooperation, and in areas such as the standing up of a naval counterterrorism unit real progress is underway. Assistant Secretary Blake strongly reinforced the message that a more accountable and transparent RAB is a prerequisite to operational training for that elite counterterrorism unit. The message could not have been better timed, coming on the day that two U.S. Marshals arrived in Dhaka to work with RAB to develop systems of accountability such as an internal affairs function. The question to be answered over the next several months is: are the Bangladeshis listening? ¶7. (U) A/S Blake has cleared this cable. MORIARTY