US embassy cable - 05DHAKA2603

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 002603 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2010 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, PGOV, BG 
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH RAB A/DG: "DUE PROCESS IS OUR 
OBJECTIVE." 
 
REF: DHAKA 2490 
 
Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons 1.4 b,d. 
 
1. (C) Summary. A senior RAB officer described cross-fire 
killings to us as a necessary, short-term expedient.  He 
appeared unaware of the Leahy amendment and its potential 
impact on army officers like himself.  Like all RAB 
personnel, he exhibits an unmistakable swagger born from 
confidence that RAB enjoys strong popular and BDG support. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On June 5, P/E Counselor and RLA called on Col. 
Chowdhury Fazlur Bari, Additional Director General of the 
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), to present a box of books on 
legal matters (including the 2004 Country Human Rights 
Reports) as requested to PA by RAB's librarian. 
 
3. (C) During the one-hour meeting in his well-equipped 
office in RAB's shiny HQ near Dhaka airport, Bari made the 
following points: 
 
-- Serving the Poor: RAB was set up to protect poor people 
from corrupt police and violent crime.  Therefore, even 
though serving in RAB is not professionally enhancing for an 
army officer like him, he is greatly honored, he said several 
times, to serve the nation and help the poor. 
 
-- Low Tech, Ad Hoc: Asked how RAB identifies its targets, 
Bari cited tip-offs from citizens and "other sources."  As an 
example, he produced a recent e-mail sent to a RAB account at 
Yahoo denouncing someone as a violent criminal with links to 
an armed leftist group.  Such tips are investigated and, he 
acknowledged, sometimes turn out to be poison pens.  However, 
RAB takes no action against the poison pen authors since it 
doesn't want to discourage any sources from stepping forward. 
 While RAB is reasonably well equipped in transport and 
weapons, Bari described their operations as "low tech" and 
dependent on the investigative expertise of police.  Asked 
how a corrupt police investigator could be kept honest when 
seconded to RAB, Bari indicated enhanced esprit d'corps and 
more diligent oversight. 
 
-- Expansion: RAB's strength is expected to rise from 5.521 
men to more than 7,000 next year.  RAB personnel come from 
the military (40%), police (40%), Bangladesh Rifles (10%), 
and others (10%). 
 
-- Proudest Accomplishment: RAB's success in going after 
illicit arms sellers and weapons use was evident in recent 
clashes at Dhaka University between rival student groups 
affiliated with the AL and BNP.  In contrast to prior 
clashes, this time there were no weapons in sight, he said. 
Asked why this success in arresting arms sellers had not led 
to arrests of the sources of these weapons, Bari replied that 
the latter are "white collars."  He declined to elaborate. 
 
-- Greatest Challenge: Maintaining high morale and spirit at 
RAB to immunize it from the problems that plague the police. 
Exemplary punishment of RAB personnel caught violating the 
law (e.g. extortion) is in the works and would be an 
effective deterrent. 
 
-- Politicization: RAB would not execute any order targeting 
a political person for political reasons.  "Ethos would stop 
me from accepting a political assassination."  (Comment: 
Interestingly, Bari interpreted a question about potential 
RAB politicization in the upcoming election as a reference to 
political killings.) 
 
-- Indian Insurgents: The Indian "insurgents" BDR and RAB 
clashed with last weekend (reftel) belonged to groups like 
ULFA.  They have no base in Bangladesh, but do periodically 
cross the border in search of respite from Indian forces. 
 
CROSS-FIRES 
----------- 
 
4. (C) P/E counselor recounted USG concerns about 
extra-judicial killings and the implications for Bangladesh, 
RAB, and army officers who serve in RAB of the Leahy 
amendment.  He noted the numbers -- more than 100 in one year 
-- and the template explanation for these midnight deaths 
suggested a serious, systemic problem.  Bari replied that it 
was only natural that RAB returned fire in self-defense when 
fired on, but he had no explanation for the unchanging 
pattern of cross-fire incidents.  He quickly segued into 
arguing that RAB's actions against "well-known criminals" are 
popular because they have brought relief to a desperate 
population.  "We are a poor, third world nation of 140 
million people," he said.  "What is 100-200 persons in that 
situation?"  He described RAB as an immediate response to a 
severe problem, adding, "Our objective is due process." 
 
5. (C) Noting that RAB was loosely founded on a FBI model, 
Bari expressed an interest in FBI training.  When P/E 
counselor replied that such a partnership was unlikely given 
the cross-fire controversy, Bari asked, "Who then should we 
get training from?" 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
6 (C) Like all RAB personnel, from the street operators to 
senior officers, Bari has an unmistakable swagger.  RAB knows 
it is popular, has strong BDG support, and, in the upcoming 
BDG budget, its own line item.  As befits a Bangladesh Army 
officer who is a veteran of two UN peacekeeping operations, 
Bari is also articulate, confident, controlled, and 
hospitable.  He addressed a wide range of issues with varying 
degrees of frankness.  Like his political superiors in the 
BDG, he makes virtually no effort to deny that extra-judicial 
killings occur as a matter of policy, instead defending them 
at length as a necessary, short-term expedient.  He appeared 
unaware of the Leahy amendment and its implication for 
military officers who serve in RAB. 
THOMAS