UN calls for disbanding RAB, restricting DGFI, and limiting BGB to border duties.
The United Nations has recommended that the government not nominate for peacekeeping any military or police personnel who served with the Rapid Action Battalion, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, or the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch at any previous point or in any of the BGB battalions deployed to the 2024 protests or previous instances of protests suppressed with the use of force.
In a report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Wednesday (12 February), it asked the government first to establish an effective and sufficiently independent human rights screening mechanism to ensure that no Bangladeshi personnel deployed to United Nations peace operations or other international missions was subject to credible allegations of international human rights, humanitarian or refugee law violations, or of any instance of sexual exploitation or abuse.
In 2021, the US Treasury Department imposed human rights-related sanctions on Bangladesh’s elite paramilitary force RAB and seven of its current and former officers, accusing them of being involved in hundreds of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings since 2009.
The following year, in a letter to the UN, 12 international human rights organisations demanded that members of RAB be banned from deployments to the peacekeeping missions.
The United Nations (UN) has recommended the disbanding of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the return of its personnel- who were not involved in serious violations- to their home units.
The recommendation was part of a report released on Wednesday (February 12) by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The UN also urged that Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) be strictly limited to border control responsibilities and that the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) be restricted to military intelligence operations only. Additionally, it suggested demilitarizing the control of Ansar/VDP wherever they take on law enforcement roles.
The report called for an immediate ban on the nomination of RAB, DGFI, or Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) personnel for UN peacekeeping missions. It also recommended that members of BGB battalions involved in the suppression of the 2024 protests or past human rights violations be barred from peacekeeping assignments.
To prevent excessive force during public protests, the UN proposed binding directives prohibiting the use of metal shot or other lethal ammunition to disperse crowds. It further called for:
– An immediate stop to equipping police and security forces with metal shot ammunition for crowd control.
– Limiting the issuance of armor-piercing ammunition strictly to military and paramilitary forces.
– An end to mass arrests and unsubstantiated suspect lists during security crackdowns.
The OHCHR also recommended a national police commission composed of government, opposition, and independent members from civil society to oversee police recruitment, promotions, transfers, and removals. It suggested the formation of an independent police commission, separate from the Home Ministry and Bangladesh Police command structure, to ensure unbiased oversight.
Additionally, the report called for the establishment of an independent torture prevention and detention monitoring program, urging Bangladesh to consider acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
The UN recommended that the deployment of armed forces for internal security should be strictly limited to exceptional cases. It suggested that any such deployment must:
– Be for a limited duration.
– Require parliamentary approval.
– Remain under civilian law enforcement command.
– Ensure full public transparency regarding tasks and rules of engagement.
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