(July 20, 2012) Accusations of extrajudicial killings by Bangladeshi paramilitary
forces and the South Asian nation's refusal to grant refuge to fleeing refugees faced
scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers on Thursday. The congressional hearing also examined
allegations of abuses against labour and opposition activists in the moderate Islamic
nation, whose human rights problems weigh on Washington's efforts to forge stronger
relations. Lawmakers singled out for concern Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion
(RAB), the paramilitary unit formed to fight organized crime but Human Rights Watch
calls it a death squad. Top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, Robert Blake, said the
unit's record has improved, but cited figures from a Bangladeshi rights group that
the battalion has committed 34 killings so far this year. That compares with 83 deaths
in 2010 and 51 in 2011. Bangladesh's government, elected in 2008, denies the battalion
has committed unlawful killings on its watch. John Sifton of Human Rights Watch said
the government _ which had promised before the election to crack down on the abuses
_ needs again to admit there's a problem. US lawmakers also voiced concern that ethnic
Rohingya women and children fleeing communal violence in western Myanmar last month
had been turned back by Bangladeshi authorities. Clashes between the Rohingya, who
are Muslims, and Buddhists in Myanmar's Rakhine state left scores dead and tens of
thousands displaced.