HRDB NEWSLETTER

16 November 2015

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh Newsletter #4-15

Mujahid and Chowdhury's trials

failed to meet international standards

Ultimate Miscarriage of Justice

only Few days away

Review petitions to be heard by the countrys top court on November 17
The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT) condemned Ali Ahsan Mohammad
Mujahid, a senior politician from Jamaat-eIslami (JeI) and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury,
a leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in 2013 after convicting them
of crimes during Bangladeshs war of independence in 1971.

Everyone is pushing for the execution of

these people. When you talk to them and ask
'do you know what the nature of these trials
has been?' they say, 'it doesn't matter, they
have to be executed.' That is really very, very
strange, said Abbas Faiz, the senior south
Asia researcher of Amnesty International

After their convictions and death sentences

were upheld earlier this year, the two filed
review petitions, which are to be heard by the
countrys top court on November 17.

Alex Carlile, a senior British lawyer and a

member of House of Lords, said that Chowdhury has not received a fair trial.

Amnesty International said Mujahid and Chowdhury's trials failed to meet international
standards.
The rights organization said two weeks ago,
since they now face the death penalty, the
ultimate miscarriage of justice may be only
days away.
Since the ICT was set up by Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina's government in 2010, several
opposition leaders have been prosecuted for
war crimes. Two, both JeI leaders, have been
executed.

The cases of Mujahid and Chowdhury have

been mired in controversy.

Bangladesh is seeking a hasty end to a judicial process that is really flawed, he added.

"For example, Mr. Chowdhury was not allowed

to call all the defense witnesses he wished to
call," Carlile told VOA. "His lawyers were put
under pressure as has been the cases in many
of the trials before this tribunal.
The ICT has a history of following some
extraordinarily improper procedure and there
were clear examples of its judgments having
been written by people who had no connection
with the tribunal, Carlile said.
There have been examples of lawyers being
put under intolerable pressure. Make no mistake, to the jurists around the world, and I
speak as one of them, the way which the ICT
trials have been conducted is offensive and it
puts Bangladesh in a very poor light, he said.

Like previous controversial judgments delivered by the ICT, Mr Mujahid and Mr

Chowdhurys trial and appeal proceedings
were marked by serious flaws in blatant
violation of fair trial rights. These include
the failure of the ICT judges to apply the
proper legal principles, the arbitrary restriction by the ICT judges of the number of
Chowdhury has maintained that he was away
defence witnesses and the appearance of
in Karachi in April 1971 when the offenses he
bias on the part the ICT against defendants.
was charged with are said to have occurred.
Almost all of the ICTs verdicts have been
handed down against members of opposiChowdhurys relatives, supporters and others
tion parties, mainly key leaders of the Jahave sworn in affidavits they were with him in
what was then known as West Pakistan in April maat-e-Islami party, since its establishment
1971, but the tribunal ruled the affidavits inad- in 2009.
missible.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheeds appeal to
the Supreme Court failed to dismiss the prosecutions claim that he had instigated his subordinates to commit human rights abuses, when
no subordinates had either been identified or
testified on record.

International Views on EU should act decisively

International in impending
Crimes Tribunal miscarriage of justice
ICT offers a real opportunity to address the
crimes of the past. However, in its present
form, it does nothing more than offer political retribution, given that the original trial
and the decision by the appellate division
of the Supreme Court do not address the
very legitimate concerns raised both domestically and internationally. 1
In general, the ICT has not achieved its established aim of bringing justice to those who
committed crimes of an international character during the 1971 conflict. Instead, it
has offered politically influenced revenge
and provided a mechanism by which a legitimate political opposition can be
attacked. 1

As warned by Sir Desmond de Silva, a prominent British lawyer, and former United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra
Leone, the shortcomings of the ICT together
with a failure to establish an international
tribunal have effectively created further
violence and division without the reconciliation the people of Bangladesh deserve. To
overcome the current situation, the Government of Bangladesh should establish
such a tribunal and allow the people of
Bangladesh the opportunity to achieve real
justice and redress.
The use of a war crimes tribunal to consider
actions taken during a civil war is a profound responsibility, and its credibility - as
well as the credibility of similar tribunals
around the world depends on the highest
standards of due process," Senator Patric
Lehay wrote in a recent letter to Bangladesh Ambassador to the US.
1. No Peace Without Justice

Statement by Alison Smith, Legal Counsel of No Peace Without Justice:

No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical
Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT) reiterate their
strong concerns about the repeated and continued violations by
the Bangladesh judicial authorities of fair trial rights in the enforcement of crimes under international law.
Through the persistent exclusion of due process guarantees and
the application of the death penalty, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) will not achieve its established aim of delivering justice
for victims and addressing the massive atrocities committed during the nine-month conflict in 1971, from which Bangladesh traumatically emerged as an independent State and which haunt the
country to this day.
The latest controversial judgments handed down against Mr Mujahid and Mr Chowdhury further reinforce the perception that the
ICTs proceedings are a weapon of politically influenced revenge
whose real aim is to target a legitimate political opposition. In its
current form, the ICT will only contribute to create further violence
and division, not the reconciliation that the people of Bangladesh
deserve.
Bangladesh cannot continue to ignore the very legitimate concerns and persistent demands for reform raised both domestically
and internationally, including through official rulings by United Nations bodies. This means first and foremost the immediate and
categorical exclusion of the death penalty for individuals accused
by ICT and the application in full of all due process guarantees,
including protection of defence witnesses, potential witnesses and
counsel from harassment and intimidation; full application of the
presumption of innocence; and all other due process rights, to the
highest international standards.
We call on the international community to insist that Bangladesh
live up to these standards. In particular, we call on the European
Union, through its Delegation currently present in Bangladesh, to
take concrete steps to ensure that Bangladesh complies with its
international human rights and other treaty obligations. Foremost
among these is to raise the death sentence against of Mr Mujahid
and Mr Chowdhury, which can be prevented if enough pressure is
brought to bear. The European Union must retake its leadership
on human rights by doing everything it can to avert the miscarriage of justice these executions would represent.
Source: www.npwj.org/

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh (HRDB) / email: humanrightsbd@gmail.com