Sanctions on RAB personnel3 ministers asked to discuss with US authorities

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday entrusted three of her cabinet members with the work on recently imposed sanction by the United States of America (USA) against former and current Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officials for ‘human rights violations’.

She made the directive during a regular weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat by joining it virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

The responsibility has been delegated to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen to oversee the issue.

“Three ministers have been given the responsibilities to oversee the issue,” Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam informed media of the matter after the cabinet meeting on Monday.

Replying to a question, the Cabinet Secretary said that no further discussion was held over the issue as three ministers – home, law and foreign – had already been working on it.

The USA on December 10 imposed sanctions on seven former and current officials of RAB under the Global Magnitsky sanctions programme in connection with serious human rights abuse.

The US State Department designated the current Inspector General of Police (IGP) and former RAB director general (DG) Benazir Ahmed and Miftah Uddin Ahmed, Lieutenant Colonel and former commanding officer of RAB Unit 7 in connection with serious human rights abuse.

The US Department of State mentioned the May 2018 “extrajudicial killing” of Teknaf City Municipal Councilor Ekramul Haque in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar District.

The following individuals are designated pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13818: Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, Director General, RAB, Benzir Ahmed, former Director General, RAB, January 2015 to April 14, 2020, Khan Mohammad Azad, Additional Director General (Operations), RAB, March 16, 2021 to present, Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar, former Additional Director General (Operations), RAB, June 27, 2019 to March 16, 2021, Mohammad Jahangir Alam, former Additional Director General (Operations), RAB, September 17, 2018 to June 27, 2019 and Mohammad Anwar Latif Khan, former Additional Director General (Operations), RAB, April 28, 2016 to September 17, 2018, according to the US Department of Treasury.

The EO 13818 means blocking of property in the US. It is the first time individuals or entities from Bangladesh have been the subject of US sanctions.

They were announced as part of a raft of new rights-abuse sanctions on senior officials and entities in eight countries, with targets ranging from a Chinese firm specializing in facial recognition technology to a giant cartoon studio in North Korea.

The measure was partly supported by the UK and Canada, although not in the case of the Bangladeshi officials or RAB.

Besides, in a separate letter, US visa of former Army chief General Aziz Ahmed was also cancelled.

To this effect, Bangladesh continued to protest against the sanctions, saying it is motivated, unilateral and violation of diplomatic etiquette.

In replying to the sanctions, the Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller and sought explanation on the US human rights-related sanctions.

Conveying Bangladesh’s discontent over the US decision, the Foreign Ministry said the decision was taken unilaterally by the US administration without any prior consultation with the government of Bangladesh.