And just like that, the deed was done. With a volley of 'Ayes!'(or rather 'Haas!') ringing around the cavernous main hall of Parliament, the Rapid Action Battalion or RAB, that was once so feared, that became embroiled in all sorts of abuses, of human rights above all, and where deputation from even the Army meant otherwise solid, upright soldiers came back with their characters diminished, was confined to history.

Clearly for defenders of human rights in particular, both at home and abroad, RAB's image in recent years had become irredeemably tied to that of the suppression of rights under the Awami League regime. The most fatal blow may have come when the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recommended a restructuring of Bangladesh's security and policing systems, including the disbandment of RAB. This recommendation was part of the fact-finding investigation by OHCHR into the Bangladeshi security agencies' actions during the July Uprising. Its influential report projected that 1,400 people were killed, the vast majority of them by police and individuals affiliated with the Awami League, primarily between July 15 and August 5, 2024.

The report stated that security forces including the police, RAB, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) unlawfully deployed military rifles and high-powered weaponry against largely peaceful demonstrators. "Disband RAB and return personnel not involved in serious violations to their home units," the report urged.

In the build-up to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Türk addressed the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva this week. Towards the end of his speech, he sought to brief the council on the work his office has been doing with various governments to address "militarised approaches to security and law enforcement." And it was here he disclosed that in Bangladesh, his office has been calling for a "strengthened and independent national institution that has oversight of security forces".

This dovetailed almost perfectly with a debate raging within Bangladesh itself, as the BNP government sought to pass its own watered-down version of two laws - on enforced disappearances, formally recognising it as a crime against humanity, and the other on the country's National Human Rights Commission. For weeks, there had been intense debate on the key difference in the legislation proposed by the BNP and the text of an ordinance issued by the interim government, which was allowed to lapse by the current administration: the interim granted the NHRC investigative powers to look into abuses committed by the state agencies. The version passed by Parliament this week does give legal criminal investigation capacity to the NHRC. But it adds a non-obstante clause to bar that legal capacity when security forces are concerned.

So as passed, it seems unlikely that the NHRC can be the strong oversight body Türk would like to see in Bangladesh. The Police Commission ordinance also failed to see the light of day under the BNP. There are however other options. One model that hasn't been tried or even discussed much here is the office of a police Ombudsman - famously successful in places like Northern Ireland, and recently instituted in Sri Lanka. The OHCHR's support in this regard can be key to arriving at the best fit for Bangladesh.