Having completed the fifth US Bangladesh security dialogue, Dhaka must leverage its relations with Washington to properly strengthen counter-terrorism assistance.
Whereas Dhaka has sought enhanced training, equipment, and logistics for anti-terrorism, below are a few specific measures that the government should ask for, in case they have not been mentioned in the October 2 meeting.
As the State Department’s top-tier officials have expressed support for Dhaka, this is the perfect time to build on the progress, instead of waiting any further.
First, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism and transnational crime (CTTC) unit should be upgraded into a top-notch law-enforcement team, using the US counter-terrorism partnership fund.
Bangladesh is already approved to participate in this funding program. It should be used to further train special weapons and tactics alongside bomb disposal police officers in the unit.
Updated methods for investigation techniques, crime-scene management, evidence collection and analysis should be provided.
The US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Bureau has previously trained Bangladeshi police officers.
This can be extended with the Federal Bureau of Investigation training police managers on human intelligence and data collected from interrogations and conversations.
Evidence collected through coercion is often thrown out by courts. To support due process in terrorism cases, the police must understand how detrimental confessions through torture can be for convicting terror suspects. Moreover, community policing can make the public comfortable enough to share valuable information.
Terrorism is a societal problem, and requires public support.
Terrorism is a societal disease, and law-enforcement actions can only counter the symptoms; these will not address the root cause. Bangladesh needs an academic-level study on the radicalisation process -- a study that is valued by the US as well
As CTTC has authority extending the capital and is on the forefront of anti-terrorism, this is currently the best law-enforcement agency to receive this training and any related equipment.
Otherwise, RAB would have been the preferred agency, as this paramilitary unit has battled terrorists and criminals across the nation for years.
However, due to its egregious human rights violations, the US suspended its training in 2014. The Leahy law prohibits US assistance to foreign security organisations that have committed human rights violations.
If Bangladesh wants RAB to regain training right now, it can ask for the US defense secretary to provide a waiver, due to extraordinary circumstances. This is a big ask, but as Washington is keen on engaging with the entire security system of Bangladesh for anti-terrorism, it may be considered.
Next, Bangladesh should receive increased signals intelligence cooperation. The New York Times reported that, although the US had warned of upcoming Islamic State attacks based on intercepted electronic communications September of last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina complained that actionable intelligence was not shared with Dhaka.
Soon thereafter, two foreigners were shot, with IS taking credit. In lieu of not possessing all government cooperation agreements, one cannot know for sure the extent of existing cooperation, but it seems that there are gaps in the information sharing.
One proposed action is the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC designating the defense attaché as the prime liaison with the National Security Agency. The attaché can start a linkup between America’s signals collection agency and Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.
NSA headquarters are in Maryland and an ongoing dialogue with the Bangladesh Embassy, which is close in proximity, can lead to greater trust-building measures among intelligence services in the two nations.
Terrorism is a societal disease, and law-enforcement actions can only counter the symptoms; these will not address the root cause.
Bangladesh needs an academic-level study on the radicalisation process -- a study that is valued by the US as well. To fully comprehend the drivers of terrorism, the government should retain Professor Ali Riaz from Illinois State University as its counter-terrorism consultant.
Professor Riaz is considered a Bangladesh expert, having testified for US Congress on Dhaka’s political situation. In a recent study, he pinpointed that, contrary to public perception, a significant number of Bangladeshi Islamist militants are well-educated, middle-class individuals.
He explained that in the absence of a systemic, evidence-based study on militants, anecdotal evidence has shaped the narrative of poverty, unemployment, and madrasa education creating militants in the land.
He is keen on studying the drivers behind the radicalisation process and the Bangladesh government should engage this academic, and discuss this proposed study with the US. It will look favourable to the US, as it manifests a long-term commitment to solving the problem.
Christine Fair, a South Asian specialist at Georgetown University, commented on Voice of America that even after receiving counter-terrorism assistance from the US, results have been mixed for Bangladesh.
With an anti-terrorism strategy that combines intelligence enhancement and identification of root causes, Bangladesh can prove otherwise.
The nation has already turned a corner after the abysmal attack on July 1; several suspected militants have been killed or detained in joint-forces operations, including the elimination of the alleged mastermind.
As the US delegation has appreciated Bangladesh’s recent counter-terrorism measures -- especially launching the CTTC unit -- and has recognised shared threats, the aforementioned proposals are likely to receive greater attention from Washington.
With continued progress through wise national security policies that are rapidly executed, mutual benefits can be earned in the path to global peace.
Tamim Choudhury is a Texas-based Communications Analyst.
