HRW urges interim govt to end retaliatory arrests, disband RAB

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that recent incidents in Bangladesh, including "arbitrary arrests and reprisal violence," could undermine key efforts by the interim government to reform the country's law and order system.

In its report released on Monday (28 January), the international rights watchdog acknowledged the immense challenge of confronting entrenched, politicised, and powerful forces that had long operated with impunity under ousted prime minister Hasina, while urging the interim government to take prompt corrective action.

"Troublingly, security forces are replicating familiar patterns of abuses from the Hasina administration," said HRW's report titled, "After the Monsoon Revolution: A Roadmap to Lasting Security Sector Reform in Bangladesh."

The report added, "These include arbitrarily arresting Awami League officials and supporters as well as journalists seen to have been favourable to the previous government. Another tactic that security forces continue to practice is filing criminal complaints against large numbers of 'unknown' people, a common abusive practice in Bangladesh."

The watchdog expressed concern over the slowing pace of reforms. 

"Without urgent structural reform, the abuses of the past could quickly become a blueprint for Bangladesh's future," it warned.

The HRW urged the interim administration to prioritise separating powers and building an independent criminal justice system. 

"Foreign donors as well as Bangladeshi activists, lawyers, and experts need to examine the failures of the past to protect human rights and address loopholes," it added.

The report is based on interviews with eight members of the security forces, as well as 30 victims, relatives, and eyewitnesses of the July-August protests that led to the collapse of the Hasina government.

The HRW acknowledged key reforms initiated by the Yunus administration, including commissions to reform the judiciary, electoral system, public administration, police, anti-corruption office, and constitution.

However, it also highlighted areas requiring immediate attention. 

"Law enforcement in Bangladesh used mass arbitrary arrests to target critics of the Hasina government," the HRW said, calling for mechanisms to prohibit cases against unnamed accused and to end the practice of mass arrest warrants.

'Disband RAB' 

The rights body said the interim government should disband the Rapid Action Battalion to not only deter future abuses, but also to send a strong message that security forces will no longer be a tool for successive governments to carry out repression.

RAB was established in 2004, when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was in office. In the years since, successive governments allowed the force to operate with impunity, acting like an in-house death squad, stated the organisation. 

As one officer who had been seconded to RAB told Human Rights Watch, "RAB has a separate team for these disappearances, killings, or crossfire incidents. Most of the work is done by that team, it added.

It also stressed the need to revise laws that enable vague and overly broad charges used to silence dissent. Reforms should aim to reduce political interference in law enforcement and the judiciary while ensuring civilian oversight.

"Similar reforms are paramount to create a fair, effective, and rights-based justice system," the HRW said, adding that promoting an active civil society was essential to underpin these changes.

The watchdog criticised the interim government for replacing the controversial Digital Security Act with a new Cyber Protection Ordinance 2024 that replicates "many of the same overly vague and broad provisions of its predecessors."

"The Yunus administration must revise this draft ordinance in consultation with civil society experts and activists and replace it with a rights-respecting law," HRW stated.

It concluded that only through these measures would Bangladesh's reforms endure and prevent a return to past abuses