US imposes sanctions on IGP, RAB DG, 4 others officials

US has imposed sanctions on six former and current officials of Bangladesh’s elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) for human rights abuse on Friday.

The US treasury department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed the sanctions on International Human Rights Day, today. Among the persons sanctioned are inspector general of police and former director general of RAB Benazir Ahmed. He was RAB’s DG from January 2015 to 14 April, 2020.

In a press release of US treasury department stated that, “Today, the U.S. Department of State has announced visa restrictions under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2021 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act on Benazir Ahmed due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights, making him ineligible for entry into the United States,” 

Other officials sanctioned current RAB director general Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, additional director general (operations) Khan Mohammad Azad, former additional director general (operations) Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar, former additional director general (operations) Mohammad Jahangir Alam and former additional director general (operations) Mohammad Anwar Latif Khan.

The press release also said that, “NGOs have alleged that RAB and other Bangladeshi law enforcement are responsible for more than 600 disappearances since 2009, nearly 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018, and torture. Some reports suggest these incidents target opposition party members, journalists, and human rights activists,”