On this week’s show, we have a long-listen for you from DW’s investigative team.
In Bangladesh, many fear the Rapid Action Battalion. RAB was founded in the aftermath of 9/11, when the United States and its allies were still reeling from the attack on the World Trade Center. And willing to allocate vast resources to the global fight against terror.
For years, the US and other Western countries played an important role in training and equipping the force. Meanwhile, allegations of wide-spread human rights violations among RAB were circulating.
It would take until 2018 for the US to halt funding, and until 2021 to impose sanctions.
Now, for the first time ever, two insiders from the elite force are claiming RAB has committed human rights abuses, systematically and with the explicit backing from the highest levels of government.
Reporting by Naomi Conrad, Chris Caurla, Arafatul Islam and Birgitta Schülke, in cooperation Netra News.
A warning to listeners: this story contains graphic descriptions of murder and torture.