Court Watch Tracking Current Developments in International Law
International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh Set to Begin
On November 20, 2011, the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (Tribunal) will commence with its first trial. Delwar Hossain Sayedee, 71, senior leader of Islamist group Jamaat e Islami, was indicted on 20 charges of crimes against humanity on October 3, 2011, and will be first of seven defendants to stand trial. If convicted, Sayedee and the other defendants could face the death penalty.
The Tribunal was formed in March 2010 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the purpose of pros- ecuting Bangladeshis who collaborated with Paki- stani forces and participated in the atrocities that took place during Bangladesh’s struggle for inde- pendence in 1971. Bangladesh’s struggle for in- dependence dates back to the partition of British India in 1947, which gave birth to the secular state of India and the Islamic state of Pakistan. The In- dian Independence Act of 1947 geographically di- vided British India’s Bengal province into East and West; Hindu-dominated West Bengal became a province of India, and Muslim-dominated East Bengal (eventually called East Pakistan) became a province of Pakistan.
Although East Pakistan accounted for a slight ma- jority of the country’s population, Western Paki- stan’s political establishment launched a scheme in 1954 that consolidated the four provinces of West Pakistan into one province in order to coun- terbalance the Eastern province’s votes in parlia- ment. In practice this ensured that political power remained almost exclusively concentrated in West Pakistan. In addition to stifled political power, East Pakistanis complained of underrepresentation in the Pakistani military and gross economic dispari- ties.
Tensions finally reached a boiling point after the national parliamentary elections in December 1970. During those elections, the Awami League, the largest political party in East Pakistan, won a majority of the 313 seats in the National As- sembly, thus securing a victory and giving them the constitutional right to form a government. But Pakistan’s military ruler General Yahya Khan, refused to honor the elections and instead pro- posed a power-sharing scheme with one Prime Minister for the East and one for the West. The proposal outraged Bengalis and they responded by organizing a highly effective program of non- cooperation.
In an effort to quell the surging nationalist move- ment in the East following the elections, Western generals decided to take decisive military action. On March 25, 1971, the Pakistani Army, along with assistance from Bangladeshi militias loyal to Pakistan, launched “Operation Searchlight.” The purpose of the operation was to take control of all major cities and eliminate any political or military opposition within one month of occupation.
Operation Searchlight proved to be the final straw for East Pakistanis. On March 26, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, elected leader of the Awami League, issued a statement declaring Bangladesh an independent nation.
Fighting between opposing forces raged on through the spring and summer months, and as the Mukti Bahini’s, Bangladeshi freedom fighters, guerilla attacks intensified, so too did paramilitary reprisals on civilians. Reports of widespread kill- ings and other human rights atrocities started pouring in from East Pakistan.
But by early December, superior air and land sup- port provided by India began to give Bangladeshi forces an overwhelming advantage over the Paki-
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 2 » December 2011
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