Improving the UN’s Monitoring and Evaluation of Bangladesh Peacekeeping Forces

Bangladesh Peacekeeping Forces: Enhancing UN Screening and Addressing Human Rights Concerns

Introduction

The United Nations (UN) has long relied on contributions from its member states to form its peacekeeping forces, which aim to promote peace and security worldwide. Bangladesh has been a significant contributor to UN peacekeeping missions, with more than 7,000 Bangladeshi troops deployed in 2021. However, concerns have been raised about the human rights records of Bangladeshi security forces, particularly the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). This dispatch calls for the UN to enhance its screening process for Bangladeshi peacekeepers and for UN officials to raise human rights concerns during their visits to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh‘s Human Rights Records and UN Human Rights Screening Policy

Bangladeshi security forces, including RAB, have been implicated in serious human rights violations such as enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and harassment of refugees. Despite this, the UN‘s current human rights screening policy fails to ensure that Bangladeshi peacekeepers with records of human rights abuses at home are not deployed with UN missions abroad. The policy is only implemented systematically at higher ranks, leaving screening for lower-level peacekeepers to the National Human Rights Commission, which has limited authority over the security forces. This weak enforcement reinforces the message that serious human rights violations will not preclude one’s service under the UN flag, presenting a moral hazard for the UN.

Enhancing UN Screening of Bangladeshi Peacekeepers

The UN should require Bangladeshi officers to disclose previous deployments with RAB and automatically bar anyone affiliated with RAB from UN peacekeeping. It should also ensure adequate resources for human rights screening of all Bangladeshi troops, not just high-level commanders. This will address the concerns raised by the UN Committee against Torture in 2019, which recommended an independent vetting procedure to ensure that no person or unit implicated in the commission of torture, extrajudicial killing, disappearances, or other serious human rights violations is selected for service.

Raising Human Rights Concerns During UN Visits to Bangladesh

UN officials, including the Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, should publicly voice concerns over human rights abuses by Bangladeshi security forces during their visits to Bangladesh. Lacroix’s upcoming visit presents an opportunity to address these issues, particularly as Bangladesh security forces are cracking down on the political opposition, targeting activists and families of victims of enforced disappearances, and harassing Rohingya refugees. He should emphasize to the Bangladeshi government that to maintain its role as the top contributor of peacekeeping troops, it should appropriately apply the UN human rights screening policy.

Conclusion

Enhancing the UN screening process for Bangladeshi peacekeepers and raising human rights concerns during UN visits to Bangladesh are imperative to ensure the integrity of UN peacekeeping worldwide. It is crucial for the UN to prioritize human rights, and for member states to make clear that contributing troops to peacekeeping missions comes with a responsibility to uphold human rights standards.