Will discuss and decide on UN’s proposals, says home advisor

“The government has welcomed these [the UN’s proposals]. They have done good work,” Jahangir Alam Chowdhury says

Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury says that “everyone will meet” to discuss the UN’s recommendations to abolish the Rapid Action Battalion and bring about other changes in security and law enforcement.

At a press conference on Thursday, he said: “That is one of the proposals they made. We will all meet. After the meeting, we will announce our decision.”

The interim government has welcomed the UN’s recommendations, he said.

“They have done good work. Now we will sit and make a decision.”

The UN’s Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, issued a report on the human rights violations in Bangladesh during the July-August uprising on Wednesday.

In addition to recommending the dissolution of the elite force RAB, it also recommended that Border Guard Bangladesh, or BGB, be restricted to border protection work and that the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, or DGFI, be limited to military intelligence.

“Abolish the RAB and return personnel not involved in serious violations to their respective units,” the OHCHR said.

At the same time, the OHCHR has called for preventing military control over Ansar-Village Defence Party and limiting its role to auxiliary support for law and order.

The report urges restrictions on the use of Armed Forces for security operations, stating that they should be deployed for internal security only in exceptional circumstances and for a limited time. It calls for the swift passage of an ordinance to formalise this limitation.

The UN agency added that it is prepared to provide technical assistance to Bangladesh in implementing the report’s recommendations across various sectors.