State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam has said Bangladesh is considering whether to wage a legal battle in US courts over the sanctions imposed on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven of its current and former officials.
“We have been speaking with three law firms and we will be able to make a decision this week. We cannot say for sure that we will fight a legal battle, but we are considering it,” he said while addressing reporters at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
He said the government would elect a representative if it decided to fight the case in the US courts.
The state minister also said the sanctions needed both legal and diplomatic efforts to be resolved, but Bangladesh did not need the intervention of a third nation.
On December 10 last year, the US Treasury Department imposed the sanctions on RAB and seven of its current and former officials, including former RAB director general and current Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed, under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The US cited "serious human rights abuse relating to the officials’ tenure."
The sanctions mean RAB members will neither be allowed to own properties in the US nor engage in any financial transaction with US bodies or personnel until further notice.
