“I May Be Killed Any Moment”
49
In 2023, Fortify Rights interviewed Mohammed Ayyub Khan, the commander-in-chief of RSO’s
military wing, who confessed to abuses by RSO members, saying: “There are maybe some RSO
people beating refugees. ... Suppose we do more violence in the camps, we will get a bad name. So,
we are not doing the kind of violence as ARSA.” 243
He continued:
We are not doing any taxing of refugees in the camps. If you have evidence against us, we will
take action. ... We follow the law. We have a jail, and we have a chain of command. We have an
established military command. If anyone does abuses, we have a law committee. ... We have a
jail for criminals.244
In response to Fortify Rights’s evidence of abuses, including abductions and killings, by RSO, the
commander said:
RSO is not killing, kidnapping, running drugs, or trafficking. In our whole history, we have
remained blameless. For example, in Zero Point [also known as No Man’s Land], we arrested
ARSA members. If it were ARSA who arrested us, they would have killed us. But we arrested
the people and didn’t kill any person. We handed them over to the government authorities.245
243 Fortify Rights interview with F.E., Bangladesh, exact date withheld, 2023.
244 Ibid.
245 Ibid.