Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar

Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar is a Bangladesh Army Brigadier General and the former Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) an elite multi-service unit of the Bangladesh Police.[1][2] He has been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for human rights violation at RAB during his time at the agency.[3][4]

Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar
Born (1973-12-07) 7 December 1973
Sunamganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh
Allegiance Bangladesh
Service/branch Bangladesh Army
Years of service1994-present
RankBangladesh-army-OF-6 Brigadier General
Service numberBA - 4922
UnitBangladesh Infantry Regiment
Commands held
Battles/warsMONUSCO
UNMIL
MINUSMA
Police career
UnitRapid Action Battalion
Allegiance Bangladesh
Branch Bangladesh Police
Service years2019–2021
Rank Additional Director

Early life

Sorwar was born on 7 December 1973 in Sunamganj District, Bangladesh.[1]

Career

Sorwar was commissioned on the 31st BMA Long Course of Bangladesh Military Academy on 19 December 1993.[5]

Sorwar previously served in Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and Army Intelligence.[5] He had also served in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and commanded an infantry battalion.[5]

On 29 June 2019, Sorwar was promoted to colonel and appointed the Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion replacing Colonel Mohammad Jahangir Alam.[6][7] He previously served as the Deputy Commander of Bangladeshi Battalion-5 of MONUSCO in Congo.[5][8] He had served in the Bangladeshi Battalion-4 in the United Nations Mission in Liberia and Bangladeshi Battalion-5 in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.[5]

On 30 July 2019, Sorwar was part of the Bangladesh delegation that went to 1769th Meeting of the 67th Session of Committee Against Torture titled Consideration of Bangladesh.[9] The committee called for an investigation on allegation of human rights violation by RAB.[10] On 18 September 2019, Sorwar sought permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs to go to Canada to purchase a backpack IMSI-catcher, a mass surveillance device, along with Md. Jahangir Alam, Joint Secretary of the Public Security Division.[11][12] On 26 October 2020, he oversaw the detention of Erfan Selim, son of member of parliament Haji Mohammad Salim.[13] He also saw the creation of an app that tracked COVID-19 infections of RAB members during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.[2] He oversaw the investigation of the Murder of Major Sinha Mohammed Rashed Khan.[14][15] The accused in the Major Sinha murder case alleged he was tortured by Sorwar in custody.[16] He oversaw the arrest of Salim Prodhan.[17]

On 16 March 2021, Colonel Khan Mohammad Azad replaced Sorwar as the Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion.[18] He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.[19] He currently the Station Commander of Savar Cantonment & the President of Cantonment Board. He is the chairperson of the Development Committee of Savar Golf Club.[19]

U.S. sanctions

On 10 December 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury added Sorwar to its Specially Designated Nationals list (SDN) under the Global Magnitsky Act for engaging in serious human rights abuses relating to his tenure at RAB.[1][20] He was one of seven serving and former officers of RAB to be sanction by the United States.[21][22]

References
  1. "Global Magnitsky Designations; North Korea Designations; Burma-related Designations; Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (NS-CMIC) List Update". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  2. "RAB DG: No human traffickers will be spared". Dhaka Tribune. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  3. Islam, Zyma; Palma, Porimol (2021-12-12). "Rab in for reckoning". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  4. "US sanctions on RAB: Key facts and analysis". Netra News — নেত্র নিউজ. 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  5. "Col Tofayel new ADG of RAB | Daily Sun |". daily sun. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  6. BanglaNews24.com (2019-06-29). "Col Tofayel made RAB ADG". banglanews24.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  7. "US imposes sanctions on RAB, 7 officials over human rights abuse". The Business Standard. 2021-12-11. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  8. Staff Correspondent (2016-06-12). "Army chief in DR Congo to visit UN peacekeeping mission". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  9. Nations, United. "Consideration of Bangladesh - 1769th Meeting, 67th Session of Committee Against Torture". Media. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  10. "CAT findings on torture: UN body recommends independent inquiry into allegations against law enforcers". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  11. "Memo" (PDF). mhapsd.portal.gov.bd. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  12. Boutilier, Alex (2021-02-28). "Does Canada allow spyware exports to repressive military regimes? Ottawa won't say". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  13. Correspondent, Senior; bdnews24.com. "MP Haji Selim's son Erfan detained by RAB over assault of naval officer". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  14. Staff Correspondent (2020-08-22). "Sinha Killing Probe: 3 cops taken to the spot to reenact scene". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  15. "RAB drill to reconstruct events to killing of Sinha - Front Page - observerbd.com". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  16. "OC Pradeep's clip viral with torture claim". The Daily Star. 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  17. Report, Star Online (2019-09-30). "Foreign currencies found at Salim's online gambling office". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  18. "Col KM Azad new additional DG of RAB". The Business Standard. 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  19. "Savar - Golf Club". www.sgc.com.bd. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  20. "US Sanctions on Bangladesh's RAB: What Happened? What's Next? | CGS". www.cgs-bd.com. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  21. Staff Correspondent; bdnews24.com. "US sanctions RAB, seven officials for 'human rights abuse'". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  22. "SORWAR, Tofayel Mustafa". sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
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