US embassy cable - 05DHAKA2491

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002491 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: JUNE 1, 2010 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, BG 
SUBJECT: RAB KILLS AWAMI LEAGUE ACTIVIST, APPARENTLY IN 
ERROR 
 
 
Classified By: P/E  Counselor D.C. McCullough, Reason(s): 1.4 (b) 
 
1. (SBU) On June 1, local media reported that in Rampura, a 
suburb of Dhaka, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) killed Abul 
Kalam Azad Sumon, a Jubo League (the student wing of the 
Awami League) member.  In a press release, RAB declared that 
the deceased was notorious criminal Goailya Sumon, and that 
he was killed in a late night "crossfire" when his criminal 
colleagues opened fire as he tried to lead police to an arms 
cache.  Goailya Sumon, they said, was wanted on charges of 
murder, rape and theft. 
 
2. (SBU) The media, however, quoting friends and family of 
the deceased, stated that he was in fact Abul Sumon, aged 22, 
and had no criminal record.  They noted that, according to 
Abul's father, the Sumon family lives at 259 East Goran, 
while police listed Goailya Sumon's address as 435 South 
Goran.  In addition, Sumon's rape charge occurred nine years 
ago, when Abul Sumon was 13.  Abul Sumon's father said that 
plainclothes police picked up his son at his place of work on 
May 30. 
 
3. (SBU)  Awami League leader Saber Hussain Chowdhury claimed 
Abul Sumon was a minor AL activist, had no criminal record, 
and that his duties consisted of distributing leaflets at a 
local mosque protesting the construction of a public works 
project.  Local BNP politicians said that Abul Sumon was 
polite and his killing was "abominable." 
 
4. (C) Comment: The AL has claimed from the outset that a 
significant number of RAB killings were politically 
motivated, though Chowdhury himself has twice failed to 
provide us with a promised list of such killings.  There 
appears to be no political or criminal motivation for Sumon's 
textbook "crossfire" fate, which underscores one of the 
principal problems with extra-judicial killings as a matter 
of practice: when mistakes are made, they are impossible to 
rectify. 
CHAMMAS