US assistance to RAB remains suspended since 2018

Staff Reporter :
Spokesperson for the US Department of State Ned Price said that they have stopped providing assistance to Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) since 2018, adding that they took the step after receiving credible information of serious human rights violation by the elite force.
Price said this during a press briefing in Washington DC on Wednesday in reply to a query that Bangladesh prime minister, just returning from the US, said that the RAB, which the US sanctioned for serious abuse of human rights, was created by the US. RAB received training, logistic supports and arms, from the US to use if and when necessary.
Commenting on it, Price said, “The fact is that based on credible information implicating the Rapid Action Battalion in gross violations of human rights, we did end assistance to the RAB
in 2018. This was some four years ago that we ceased our assistance to this group.”
“In December 2021, we sanctioned the RAB as well as six current and former officers under what’s known as our Global Magnitsky sanctions regime in connection with the RAB’s involvement in serious and gross human rights abuse,” he continued.
Elaborating the sanction, he also said, “And we publicly designated two former RAB officials under a separate authority, 7031(c), for their involvement in gross violations of human rights.”
Under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriate Act, 2021 mentioned that Officials of foreign governments and their immediate family members about whom the Secretary of State has credible information have been involved, directly or indirectly, in significant corruption, including corruption related to the extraction of natural resources, or a gross violation of human rights shall be ineligible for entry into the United States.
Meanwhile, Ned Price, about US foreign policy on human rights, said, “Whether it is in Bangladesh, whether it’s anywhere else in South Asia or anywhere else around the world, we have placed human rights at the center of our foreign policy.”
“And we are committed likewise to drawing attention to and putting a spotlight on those who are responsible for human rights violations when they occur,” he continued.
Regarding the aim of the sanction, the US spokesperson said, “These sanctions and these visa restrictions aim to promote accountability and reform for the RAB and to deter human rights abuse globally.”
He further said that amid this sanction, the US would continue their partnership with countries to enhance the capacity to contain crime, injustice and misrule.
“And just as we hold these actors accountable, we’ll continue to partner with countries to develop their own capacity to fight crime, to administer justice, and to safeguard the rule of law. Our training to Bangladesh security forces promotes these very principles,” he stressed.
In reply to another query about the Bangladesh government’s attack on the opposition, peaceful demonstration, and freedom of speech and freedom of association, he said that the US advocates for universal rights.
“Our comment when it comes to any attack on those who are exercising the universal right to freedom of assembly, to freedom of expression, is the same. People everywhere, people anywhere have every right to use their voice, to assemble peacefully, to make their aspirations known in a way that is peaceful and respects the rule of law,” he added.
With the nearing of the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh next year, the UN Human Rights Commission and the US government have been strongly voicing about the alleged enforced disappearances and human rights violation by the RAB.
They have been urging the government of Bangladesh to carry out an independent investigation into the alleged crimes committed by the elite force.
However, the government of Bangladesh is on a different wavelength saying that the allegation of enforced disappearance was not based on facts and the government did not rob anyone’s human rights.
In Sylhet last Saturday, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said, “The government does not support the enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing. Propaganda is being spread in the name of enforced disappearance.”
Stressing the government’s stance, he said that the government would take stern actions against the perpetrators if such incidents take place.