Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said the government started drafting a new law aiming to reinforce accountability and transparency of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
"We (the government) have taken an initiative to enact a new law. Under that law, a force will exist as an elite unit. Whether RAB will be renamed or whether an entirely new elite force will be formed, the government is still considering that," he said while addressing as the chief guest an event marking RAB's 22nd founding anniversary at the crime busting force's headquarters in the capital's Kurmitola on Monday (18 May).
"Whatever the structure is, accountability, transparency and responsibility will be ensured for the elite force," he said.
"There will be authority, and there will be responsibility. We hope RAB will conduct all its operations fully upholding human rights in the days ahead," he continued.
Mr Salahuddin Ahmed said that their (RAB's) duties will be defined and accountability will be ensured within the same law.
"We have formed a committee to draft a law for the elite force. Experts are working on it. Currently, RAB operates under a specific provision of the Armed Police Battalion," he said.
The minister said that operation of the RAB has been running on an ad hoc basis for a long time, which is not appropriate; the government will now enact a separate law for the elite force.
"The time has not yet come to go into detail. An elite force will certainly be needed to ensure public safety in line with people's expectations," he continued.
Asked whether the government is taking any initiatives to lift US sanctions on the force, the minister said RAB's image, as an institution, has been tarnished by the actions of certain officials.
"Under the erstwhile fascist regime, there was no state institution that was not damaged. The police, army, RAB and BGB [Border Guard Bangladesh] - all were affected. But it must be remembered that an institution cannot bear the responsibility for the actions of a few officials," the minister went on.
He said that the government has instructed that the responsible officials be brought to account under the relevant institutional laws.
"If some officials go astray, they are personally liable; the institution is not," he maintained.
The minister said that when the US imposed sanctions on RAB, the force was involved in certain activities, adding that the "fascist government" of Sheikh Hasina used it as a political instrument.
He said that many institutions were used in this way to establish one-party rule.
That is why the sanctions were imposed, which are still in place," he went on.
"If we now form or restructure the elite force afresh, there is hope that they may reconsider the matter. Much remains to be done… we shall see," he said.
"The current government has been in office for three months. Has RAB, the police or any other force been used for political purposes so far? So, morning shows the day," he said while responding to a query whether there is any guarantee that RAB will not be used as a political tool in the future.
About enforced disappearance of BNP leader Ilias Ali, the minister said his wife has filed a case with the International Crimes Tribunal, "and so have I."
He said that the strongest judicial framework lies within the ICT law.
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances [under the interim government] had certain limitations; punitive measures were not clearly defined there.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com