VI. Recommendations

To the Bangladeshi Government

Protection

• Make strong and repeated public statements, at the highest institutional level, against unlawful killings and custodial abuse by RAB, and that all those responsible for abuses will be prosecuted.
• Publicly provide information on the location of all places of detention; persons should only be held in officially recognized places of detention.
• Promptly communicate information on persons taken into custody to relatives and legal counsel.
• Provide detainees prompt access to legal counsel, medical personnel, and family members.
• Allow nongovernmental human rights organizations improved access to all places of detention.
• Develop a policy to provide compensation to the victims of abuse by the security forces.

Investigations and Prosecutions

• Promptly and impartially investigate all allegations of torture and deaths in the custody of the security forces.
• Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all former and current members of the military, police, RAB, or other security forces of whatever rank who are responsible for unlawful killings, torture, and other human rights abuses. Similarly punish commanding officers who knew or should have known of such abuse, and who failed to prevent or punish it.
• Immediately suspend from the military, police, RAB, and other security forces any individual for whom there exists credible evidence that he or she has committed torture or participated in the extrajudicial execution of a detainee, pending investigation.
• Establish an independent civilian authority charged with receiving complaints and investigating allegations of crimes committed by members of the police, military, and other armed forces.
• Make public past and future reports of inquiry commissions tasked with investigating alleged violations of human rights.
• Publicly release detailed information on all arrests, prosecutions, and convictions against members of the military, RAB, police, and other law enforcement agencies for human rights violations.
• Ensure that administrative and judicial proceedings regarding alleged violations of human rights are open to public scrutiny.
• Investigate all allegations that public officials have intentionally acted to obstruct efforts by victims, their family members, and others to seek justice for violations of human rights, and prosecute those responsible for such obstructions.
• Establish a comprehensive witness protection program to guarantee that anyone who files a complaint or is prepared to testify against an alleged human rights abuser is able to do so without fear of being subjected to harassment or violence.

Institutional Reform

• Disband RAB, which from its inception has based its operating culture on practices such as extrajudicial killings. In the event RAB is retained, establish an independent commission to assess RAB's performance, to identify those believed to be responsible for serious violations such as extrajudicial killings who should be excluded from a reformed RAB and prosecuted, and to develop an action plan to transform RAB into an agency that operates within the law and with full respect for international human rights norms. The commission should:
  • Be composed of respected members of law enforcement, independent judges and lawyers, and members of Bangladesh's human rights community;
  • Include the active participation of independent international experts on law enforcement and human rights;
  • Have full access to all relevant government documents, as well as the power to subpoena;
  • Provide witness protection as necessary;
  • Have a time limit of no more than six months to complete its inquiry and present its report, with concrete recommendations on RAB reform;
  • Have the power to make public statements during and after its inquiry, including on the government's response to the commission's recommendations; and
  • Have the power at any time during its mandate to publicly recommend the immediate suspension, pending investigation, of any current or former RAB member implicated in serious human rights violations.
• Disband DGFI, which has too long depended on illegal practices such as arbitrary detentions and torture. In the event that DGFI is retained, establish an independent commission to assess DGFI's performance, identify those believed to be responsible for serious violations such as torture who should be excluded from a reformed DGFI and prosecuted, and develop an action plan to transform DGFI into an agency that operates within the law and with full respect for international human rights norms. DGFI's operations should be strictly limited to lawful military intelligence activities, and in no circumstances should it engage in surveillance of the political opposition and critics of the regime. The commission should:
  • Be composed of respected members of the Armed Forces, independent judges and lawyers, and members of Bangladesh's human rights community;
  • Include the active participation of independent international experts on intelligence work and human rights;
  • Have full access to all relevant government documents, as well as the power to subpoena;
  • Provide witness protection as necessary;
  • Have a time limit of no more than six months to complete its inquiry and present its report, with concrete recommendations on DGFI reform;
  • Have the power to make public statements during and after its inquiry, including on the government's response to the commission's recommendations; and
  • Have the power at any time during its mandate to publicly recommend the immediate suspension, pending investigation, of any current or former DGFI member implicated in serious human rights violations.
• Duly consider and, wherever possible, promptly implement the recommendations from the commissions on RAB and DGFI reform.
• Establish an Ombudsman for law enforcement affairs, with a mandate to monitor and report on the work of RAB and the police.

Law Reform

• Repeal or amend article 46 of the constitution, which gives parliament the power to grant indemnity for human rights violations.
• Amend all legal provisions, such as articles 132 and 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which in effect shield law enforcement officials from being held to account for violations of human rights.
• Amend the Armed Police Battalions Ordinance, 1979, and its 2003 amendment, which form the legal basis for RAB. The law should abolish the special RAB tribunals to allow for greater transparency and accountability.
• End the practice of preventive detention, and amend article 33 of the constitution and repeal the Special Powers Act, 1974, and any other laws allowing for such detention.
• Amend the Army Act, Air Force Act, Navy Ordinance, Armed Police Battalions Ordinance, and any other relevant legislation to ensure that all allegations of human rights abuses against members of the armed forces are investigated, prosecuted, and tried under the civilian criminal justice system.
• End the practice of using members of the armed forces for law enforcement purposes, and make necessary legislative amendments to prohibit the future use of soldiers for such duties.
• Adopt legislation that makes torture a specific criminal offense in accordance with article 1 of the Convention against Torture, with punishment that is commensurate with the crime.
• Amend the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2007, and establish a commission that meets the requirements of the Paris Principles and best international practice.[245]

International Cooperation

• Invite relevant United Nations special mechanisms, such as the special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to Bangladesh to investigate and make recommendations.
• Make the required declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention against Torture so that the Committee against Torture can receive individual communications.
• Accede to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
• Accede to the Optional Protocol and Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
• Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
• Thoroughly vet all Bangladeshi military and police who apply for UN peacekeeping missions to ensure that they have not committed violations of human rights.
• Ban from participation in UN peacekeeping operations any individual from RAB, the police, or military whom the government identifies as having responsibility for serious human rights violations, pending investigation.

To Civil Society Organizations

• Consider establishing a broad-based coalition against impunity, involving lawyers, NGO workers, medical practitioners, media representatives, victims of human rights abuses, politicians, and others. Such a coalition should strive to raise awareness about the impunity problem, mobilize public demand for change, and engage in strategic lobbying efforts.

To Bangladesh's Donors

• Press the government, through public and private diplomacy, to implement the above recommendations.
• Refuse to work with Bangladesh's security forces on law enforcement or counterterror operations until the force ceases its use of torture and extrajudicial executions, promotes transparency, and pursues accountability for violations of human rights.
• Refuse to support training programs for Bangladesh's security forces-unless specifically for human rights-until the force ends the pattern and practice of torture and extrajudicial executions.
• Withhold material and financial assistance to Bangladesh's security forces until RAB and the police take serious measures to end extrajudicial executions and to actively prosecute those implicated in torture and unlawful killings.
• Ensure proper vetting of all participants in military training and exchange programs in order to guarantee that officers against whom there are credible allegations of involvement in human rights violations are barred from taking part.
• Call for RAB to be disbanded. In the event that RAB is retained, ask for the creation of a commission on RAB reform, and support the commission's work.
• Call for DGFI to be disbanded. In the event that DGFI is retained, ask for the creation of a commission on DGFI reform, and support the commission's work.
• Request the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to thoroughly review the participation in peacekeeping operations of all Bangladeshi soldiers and law enforcement officials, including commanders, to ensure that they have not committed, ordered, or tolerated serious human rights violations.
• Support civil society initiatives that bring pressure on those responsible for human rights violations to desist from such acts, strive to ensure that members of the security forces responsible for violations are prosecuted, and aim at convincing the government and political parties of the need to take legislative and other measures to address the impunity problem.
• Provide financial support to a civil society coalition against impunity.
• Continue to support efforts to promote independence of the judiciary.

To the United Nations

• The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) should thoroughly review the participation in peacekeeping operations of all Bangladeshi soldiers and law enforcement officials, including commanders, to ensure that they have not committed, ordered, or tolerated serious human rights violations.