Six members of the US Congress, in a letter, have urged President Joe Biden to take “appropriate measures” for banning Bangladesh law enforcement and military personnel from participating in UN peacekeeping missions.
The call comes when Bangladesh's role in the blue helmet has been highly praised by the UN itself.
Scott Perry, Barry Moore, Warren Davidson, Bob Good, Tim Burchett, and Keith Self in their joint letter dated May 25 made the call, urging Biden's intervention in ending human rights abuses and holding free and fair elections in Bangladesh.
The letter has been in circulation in social media for the last few days, after it was mentioned by BNP leader Rumeen Farhana, but it could not be verified. Bob Good posted the letter on his website on June 2 and issued a press release in this regard.
He said the letter, with Rep Scott Perry (PA-10) in the lead, was signed by Rep Bob Good (VA-05), Rep Barry Moore (AL-02), Rep Tim Burchett (TN-02), Rep Warren Davidson (OH-08), and Rep Keith Self (TX-03).
“In recent months, tens of thousands of peaceful protestors have demonstrated for fair and free elections. Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has responded by torture, extra judicial killing, and arrest of peaceful demonstrators,” read the letter.
“The US Government has designated RAB a ‘serious human rights abuser' more than a year ago and sanctioned several law enforcement authorities responsible for many of the killings and other atrocities. Yet, the Hasina regime has only intensified its systemic repression of the people of Bangladesh since sanctions were imposed,” the letter states. “In addition to crimes against their own people, Hasina's misconduct encourages other bad actors in South Asia to make common alliances, and hurts America's national security interest as they gang together and draw closer to China and Russia.”
“We request appropriate measures to give Bangladeshis their best chance for free elections, including stricter individual sanctions, banning Bangladesh law enforcement and military personnel from participating in UN peacekeeping missions,” the letter concluded.
The US State Department imposed sanctions on RAB and seven of its former and current officials on December 10, 2021 over human rights violations. But after that, the US administration noted the force's progress in respecting human rights.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, during his visit to Dhaka on January 15, said RAB has made "tremendous progress" in performing its duties while respecting human rights.
"We recognise this. This is amazing work. It shows that RAB is able to carry out its counterterrorism efforts and important functions while respecting human rights," he had said.
On the other hand, the UN had highly praised Bangladesh's peacekeeping mission even last week while celebrating International Peacekeepers Day.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also awarded the “Dag Hammarskjöld Medal” to five fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers for their supreme sacrifice in UN peacekeeping operations.
Bangladesh is currently the top contributor of uniformed personnel to UN peacekeeping operations. At present, around 7,500 Bangladeshi peacekeepers are deployed in nine peacekeeping missions. So far, 166 peacekeepers from Bangladesh have lost their lives while serving in UN peacekeeping operations, according to the Bangladesh mission in the UN.
Then why have the members of the US Congress asked for a ban on the peacekeepers? Dhaka Tribune posed this question to Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University.
“This is not new. In American politics, lobbying is a big factor. By lobbying, you can bring many issues forward. And ahead of elections, one quarter will naturally lobby hard. They will always try to push and put forward certain issues which will give them mileage in local politics. It happened before 1/11. I don't think it's exceptional,” he said.
On January 11, 2007, popularly known as 1/11, a military controlled caretaker government took power amid a volatile political situation and stayed on for two years before holding a general election.
“But their (US) government officials noted the progress (RAB has made) and made public comments that things are changing after their sanction and they are working together with Bangladesh,” said Dr Ahmed.
Asked why they wrote the letter, he said: “Before 1/11, the UN chief in Dhaka was very active and they played a role in bringing the peacekeeping issue forward. I think considering that background, one quarter might have tried to bring the issue forward again. But I don't see any impact of the call of banning peacekeeping missions in the UN. It's not such a simple issue. It has been tried before."
Explaining how the peacekeeping system works, he said: “It's a collective decision of how and on what considerations the UN will post a peacekeeping mission. They consider different issues. Bangladesh's peacekeeping role is highly praised by the UN itself. Pakistan is also there at the UN peacekeeping in a big way. They (Pakistan) have serious internal problems. Many other countries who send peacekeepers have their own internal political problems. Nobody is banning them from the peacekeeping mission. So why would you take a Bangladesh only decision?
“If you ban a country considering internal issues, then America would also be banned because they have problems too. Though they don't wear blue helmets, they join peacekeeping."
Dr Ahmed, however, said Bangladesh must address its internal issues on its own, not that somebody has asked it to do so. “Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances should come down to zero. It's necessary in Bangladesh's own interest, for our own society, for our own civilization.”