Staff Reporter :
The Bangladeshi government should order an independent investigation and prosecute members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) responsible for shooting Limon Hossain in his leg that led to a permanent disability, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
The New York based rights group, in a report published on its website on Monday, also said the authorities finally dropped politically motivated charges against Limon, but have not taken action against his attackers.
“The government needs to take action against the Rab officer who shot Limon, which led to a permanent disability, as well as those who perverted the course of justice by bringing phony charges against him,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW.
Limon, a college student at the time, was shot by RAB men in a bungled security operation on March 23, 2011. He was in the field near his village in Jhalakati, when members of RAB, a paramilitary security force, accused him of being a criminal and shot him at point-blank range. Four days later, Limon’s leg was amputated to save his life.
“It is good that Bangladeshi authorities have finally dropped the spurious charges against Limon, but he never should have been charged in the first place,” said Brad Adams, adding, “The Bangladeshi government needs to take action against the RAB officer who shot Limon, which led to a permanent disability, as well as those who perverted the course of justice by bringing phony charges against him,” the report said.
It further added: “The then-director general of RAB said in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that Limon was an accidental victim of a shootout between RAB and criminal gangs. However, the police took no action against his attackers and instead filed several criminal charges against Limon in an attempt to shelter RAB from accountability.”
In June 2011, following local and international outcry over the incident, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered an investigation into the RAB officers involved in the incident. She also said that ongoing investigations had produced no evidence to show that Limon had any involvement with criminal activities.
Although the prime minister’s statement vindicating Hossain and announcing an investigation into his shooting was extensively reported by Bangladeshi media, the government withdrew the statement within four hours, without any clarification, the report said.
The official police investigation into complaints filed on April 10, 2011, by Limon’s family against six RAB members has still not been completed and no charges have been filed against those who shot him. In a disturbing development, on August 14, 2012, the police issued a report finding no evidence of RAB involvement in Limon’s shooting, said HRW.
The rights group also urged the authorities to break the cycle of impunity by successfully prosecuting those RAB officers responsible for the May 2014 execution of seven people in Narayanganj.
At least three RAB officers were arrested after massive media coverage and, it seems, because one of the victims came from a well-connected political family.
The HRW reiterated its call for the Bangladesh government to disband RAB. The government should withdraw all military officers and soldiers from RAB and replace it with an entirely civilian force.
On September 18, members of the European Union Parliament expressed serious concern over disappearances, killings, and other ongoing violations by RAB. “RAB is a death squad that cannot be reformed,” Adams mentioned.
