US embassy cable - 05DHAKA345

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000345 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, BG, Crime/Murders, BG Terrorism 
SUBJECT: AS POLICE "CROSSFIRES" SOAR, RAB NEARS THE 100 MARK 
 
REF: 04 DHAKA 02742 
 
Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.5 d 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: Spurred by a sharp spike the last three 
months, the 240 killings by police reported in 2004 are 
triple the 2003 figure.  Of the 2004 total, 169 are 
"crossfires," or thinly-veiled extra-judicial killings. 
Although RAB accounts for fewer than half the crossfires, it 
retains preeminent popular support for spearheading what is 
seen as an effective strategy against lawlessness.  Based on 
October-January figures, Bangladesh's 2005 crossfire tally 
could exceed 500.  The RAB phenomenon has serious 
implications for USG interests, including the 2007 general 
election.  END SUMMARY 
 
The Record 
---------- 
 
2. (SBU) The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a paramilitary law 
enforcement unit launched in June 2004, consists of 
approximately 70 percent military and 30 percent police 
personnel (reftel).  Its seven battalions, with a strength of 
5500 officers and men, are deployed in Dhaka, Rajshahi, 
Khulna, and Chittagong.  RAB reports to the Home Ministry, 
and has seen its mandate grow from being an elite anti-crime 
strike force to providing security at VIP functions, 
important religious gatherings, opposition demonstrations, 
and at transport hubs and shopping centers during peak 
holiday seasons.  Most recently, it entered the Bangla Bhai 
fray by arresting alleged followers of the self-styled 
Islamist vigilante.  The BDG says it plans to create four 
more RAB battalions, including two in Sylhet and Barisal. 
 
3. (SBU) In its first month, RAB began reporting the death by 
"crossfire" of people in its custody.  With almost no 
variation, the explanatory press statement asserted that a 
detained suspect died in an ensuing exchange of gunfire after 
the suspect led RAB to an area containing an arms cache or 
the hideout of comrades.  Regular police units and two 
smaller, lower-profile police units, the Cheetahs and the 
Cobras, began reporting similar incidents. 
 
4. (SBU) According to figures compiled by Odhikar, a 
prominent human rights NGO: 
 
-- In 2004, the 240 police killings broke down to: RAB-79 
(including 63 crossfires); regular police-128 (86 
crossfires); Cheetahs/Cobras/Others-33 (20 crossfires). 
 
-- Of the 2004 killings, a big majority (169) came in the 
last three months. 
 
-- So far in 2005, there have been 43 killings with 38 
crossfires. 
 
5. (SBU) RAB's 2004 victims included one infamous "listed" 
criminal, Pichchi Hannan, but most were local and generally 
unknown "terrorists" (defined as anyone from a thug to an 
organized crime member).  At least several dozen crossfire 
victims included persons with AL or BNP links.  Opposition 
figures alleged that Hannan and victims with BNP links were 
killed to protect BNP "godfathers."  The most prominent 
political victim has been Mofakhar Hossain Chowdhury, General 
Secretary of the Purbo Banglar Communist Party, a violent 
 
SIPDIS 
gangster masquerading as an ideologue whose demise evoked 
general approval. 
 
The Reaction 
------------ 
 
6.(C) From the outset of RAB's rampage, senior BDG ministers 
have made little effort to conceal their satisfaction with 
the crossfires.  Even the Law Minister, the BDG's foremost 
legal adviser, stressed to us that the victims are "all 
terrorists and criminals," and that Bangladeshis welcome 
RAB's actions as a major blow for law and order.  Last year, 
Home Minister of State Lutofzzaman Babar, RAB's boss, told 
PolFSN, "Let us not discuss it. The people are happy and even 
the judges are happy about it."  Babar said that he gets 
hundreds of calls from people blessing him after each 
crossfire and judges encourage him to continue "the good 
work."  He justified RAB as a short-term tactic pending his 
long-term reform and streamlining of BDG law enforcement 
agencies.  On January 25, PM Zia told a BNP rally that the 
opposition (Awami League) is against RAB because RAB has 
sidelined opposition "terrorists." 
 
7. (C) Contacts across the spectrum tell us that RAB's 
actions and deterrent value have improved law and order. 
Even anti-BDG businessmen say there has been a noticeable 
drop in threats and extortion demands directed at them and 
their businesses.  Against this backdrop, few Bangladeshis 
are willing to express public concerns about RAB.  On the 
political front, only Awami League leaders have condemned 
"crossfire" deaths, calling them politically-motivated 
executions.  Two human rights NGO's, including Odhikar, keep 
a tally of RAB/police killings but have not noticeably 
campaigned against them.  In one conspicuous exception, 
eminent barrister and political gadfly Dr. Kamal Hussein told 
reporters, "The word crossfire now should refer to inflicting 
capital punishment without trial." 
 
8. (SBU) Many Bangla media have hailed RAB as long-overdue 
comeuppance for criminals.  Jamaat Islami's newspaper and the 
Islamist-oriented Inquilab effusively praise RAB and 
disparage RAB's critics as anti-Bangladeshi foreign pawns. 
English-language newspapers are somewhat more skeptical; 
several have reported details of "crossfires" that did not 
conform to the official version, and many routinely carry 
"crossfire" in quotes.  Although RAB accounts for fewer than 
half the reported crossfires, it continues to get 
disproportionately intense media coverage. 
 
9. (SBU) An important part of RAB's popular appeal is its 
swagger.  While police officers generally look like park 
rangers armed with a hodge-podge of dilapidated weaponry, RAB 
personnel are fit and nattily attired in ninja black 
uniforms, complete with a black bandanna on their heads and 
often with dark sunglasses.  Their weaponry looks like it 
works, and the demeanor of RAB personnel, indicative of their 
military training, conveys alertness and seriousness of 
intent. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10 (S) Weary of rampant criminality and political thuggery, 
Bangladeshis two years ago applauded Operation Clean Heart, 
the military's anti-crime crackdown that produced a reported 
46 deaths in custody, many attributed to "heart attacks."  To 
little evident disapproval, Parliament ended up indemnifying 
the military against those deaths.  Unlike Operation Clean 
Heart, however, RAB is perceived as making a real dent 
against crime.  Politically, RAB is easily the BDG's most 
popular initiative in its three years in office. 
 
11. (S) There seems little doubt that crossfire killings are 
sanctioned and directed by the BDG.  "Crossfires" existed 
before RAB, but it was only with RAB's debut, in June, that 
the numbers jumped and spread to the rest of the police. 
RAB's success in finding, and killing, criminals stands in 
stark contrast to the police's inability to find the 
perpetrators of high-profile attacks on the British High 
Commissioner and the AL leadership at the August 21 rally. 
At this point, however, it appears that a BNP or AL 
affiliation of a crossfire victim is largely coincidental and 
reflects only the pervasive criminality of Bangladeshi 
politics.  It is interesting, though, that few if any of 
RAB's crossfire victims include people linked to Jamaat 
Islami or its violent student front.  RAB could become more 
politicized since its creators and bosses are Home Minister 
of State Babar, a BNP MP with alleged Islamist sympathies, 
and Home Secretary Omar Farooq, who has long-standing Jamaat 
Islami associations.  As the run-up to the general election 
expected in early 2007 becomes more confrontational and the 
BNP pulls out all the stops to win another term, it is easy 
to imagine RAB playing a more partisan, and covert, political 
role. 
 
12. (C) South Asia has a history of police "encounters" and 
"crossfires" that end up killing notorious or otherwise 
problematic persons, but the scope and scale of crossfires 
occurring now in Bangladesh are exceptional; if RAB and the 
police maintain the pace of the last four months, crossfire 
deaths in 2005 could exceed 500.  Although Bangladeshis don't 
appear concerned, the RAB phenomenon has immensely negative 
implications for Bangladesh and USG interests.  When the 
number of RAB crossfires, now at 93, hits 100, we will send 
suggested text for a statement by the press spokesman. 
THOMAS