The United Nations (UN) has recommended that Bangladesh refrain from nominating any military or police personnel for peacekeeping who have previously served in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), or the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB).
The restriction also applies to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel involved in the 2024 protests or other crackdowns.
In a report released Wednesday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) urged the government to first establish an independent human rights screening mechanism to ensure that no Bangladeshi personnel deployed to UN peacekeeping or other international missions have credible allegations of human rights, humanitarian, or refugee law violations, including sexual exploitation or abuse.
It suggested that the government and the UN Department of Peace Operations agree to withhold nominations until such a mechanism is in place.
In 2021, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on RAB and seven of its current and former officers over alleged involvement in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings since 2009. The following year, 12 international human rights organisations urged the UN to ban RAB personnel from peacekeeping missions.
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