US sanctions on RAB might be politically motivated: NHRC

The National Human Rights Commission Bangladesh (NHRC) on Sunday said the US sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its officials might be a "politically motivated agenda."

"The RAB has been operating since 2004 as an elite force of the Bangladesh Police which was never accused of human rights abuse and repression," said Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed, full-time member of the NHRC.

"Human rights violation issues are generally raised by global rights bodies and welfare organisations. However, the accusation from a country like the US looks like a politically motivated decision," he told reporters at a press conference at the NHRC headquarters in the capital.

Kamal Uddin further said that the US could have placed the issue before the United Nations, the Human Rights Council and other platforms, instead of imposing sanctions.

At the event, NHRC Chairperson Dr Nasima Begum said, "We are yet to get details of the sanctions."

About the US embargo on RAB and its officials, she said the US could not label any agency superficially with the blame of extra-judicial killing. "We also cannot do so without proper evidence. If it (the US) gives us any specific example, then we can take steps," she added.

Other NHRC senior officials were present at the conference organised for a briefing about the incumbent commission and its activities over two years.

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has recently imposed sanctions on a total of 10 organisations and 15 individuals from various countries, including Bangladesh, who were found to have been involved in human rights abuses and repression.

It is the first time, individuals or entities from Bangladesh have been the subject of US sanctions.

Of the organisations and individuals, RAB, its former director general and current police chief, Benazir Ahmed, and RAB's current chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, faced the US ban under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, EO 13818, citing "serious human rights abuse relating to their tenure."

Due to the sanctions, they will not get a US visa, and may even have their assets in the US confiscated. Besides, the organisation RAB might no longer get cooperation from the US and its allies.

NHRC chief confused about case filing for Teknaf councillor killing

The US cited an "extra-judicial killing" case – the Teknaf Councillor Ekram murder – by the RAB, for imposing the sanctions. But, at the event, NHRC chief Dr Nasima Begum said they were waiting for a specific example.

When journalists reminded her of the case, she first said, "A lawsuit has been filed for the incident, which is why the NHRC had not taken any steps."

But that is not accurate. No case has been filed for the killing yet. Learning such information from the journalist there, the NHRC chairperson said her subordinate officials might have misguided her with wrong information.

She said they have nothing to do with the complaints against policemen until the NHRC law is amended and the proposed regulations are passed.

Highlighting the incumbent commission's positive activities in the last two years, the NHRC head also expressed concern about 'negative reports' in the media.