RAB works as per training given by US, says PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said today that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was established based on recommendations by the United States of America and is working as per the training provided by them.

She made the remarks when asked regarding USA's sanctions on RAB in 2021 while addressing a press conference, regarding her UK and US visit, from Ganabhaban on Thursday (6 October).

"US provides RAB with arms and ammunition, helicopter, digital and ICT system among other equipment," she added.

The prime minister then remarked, "So, when US imposes sanctions on them, all I can say is, as you have trained, so is their activities. What can we do?"

"If your training was more efficient, then there wouldn't be such discussions," she added.

The prime minister further added that she had explicitly addressed the killings in the US by their law enforcers.

 "In Bangladesh, when law enforcement forces commit a crime, they are prosecuted. But this is not the case in the US," she said.

She then mentioned that many individuals have fallen victim to wrongful police shootings.

Referring to the killing of George Floyd, she said there would have been no justice if people hadn't engaged in protests.

The US government's decision in 2021 December to impose sanctions against Bangladesh's special security force unit, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), came as they have been implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, according to Human Rights Watch.

The RAB has been linked to cases of disappearances and killings, typically of political opposition figures, dissidents, or others critical of the Bangladeshi government.