Bangladesh Reforms: Same Killings, Different Premier
Al Jazeera investigates whether extrajudicial killings and disappearances persist under Bangladesh’s new Yunus government, implying a failure of local leadership to break from the past. Yet, this framing conveniently sidesteps the consistent US backing of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a unit notorious for these very abuses under previous regimes. The US Department of State, while
acknowledging RAB's 'gross violations of human rights' (as cited in their own 2023 human rights report), has for years provided training and assistance to Bangladesh's security forces. One might wonder if 'continuity' is precisely what Washington paid for, no matter who's in charge. This isn't merely a Bangladeshi problem; it's a predictable outcome when 'allies' in Washington prioritize strategic
stability over actual human rights. The narrative shifts from 'Hasina's abuses' to 'Yunus's continuation' without linking the pattern to the external powers who fund and train the very forces committing these acts. It's almost as if the atrocities are a feature, not a bug, of certain geopolitical alignments.