Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman Nasima Begum said, the commission is looking into the sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its officials imposed by the US administration to know whether or not it is politically motivated.
The NHRC has no jurisdiction to investigate the allegations of disappearance and murder against the law enforcing agencies, but it can seek reports to the government, she said while talking to reporters at her office in the capital on Sunday (December 19).
“We cannot launch any investigation about the alleged disappearance and murder. We can only seek investigation report to the government. We have recommended to revise the law, so the commission can inquire the reports,” Nasima Begum said.
She said, the commission is looking into the sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its officials imposed by the US administration to know whether or not it is politically motivated.
Earlier, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control 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 face 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.
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