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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
National
Yarno Ritzen, Kevin Hirten

UK refusal to sanction Bangladesh ‘death squad’ revealed

Human rights groups accuse the RAB of involvement in extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances [File: Abir Abdullah/EPA]

Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) can reveal that the United Kingdom was set to impose sanctions on Bangladesh’s anti-terrorism Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in 2021 but held back for reasons that remain unexplained.

The US implemented sanctions against the RAB and seven high-ranking current and former members on December 10, 2021, for alleged human rights violations such as torture and forced disappearances. The RAB has been likened to a “death squad” by several human rights organisations.

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