Court Watch Tracking Current Developments in International Law
ICTB Sentences Bangladesh Politician to Death for War Crimes
On September 30, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) sentenced Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury to death for war crimes com- mitted during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. A member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Par- ty (BNP), Chowdhury was accused of committing murder and genocide during the war via pro-Pak- istan militias. The ICTB found Chowdhury guilty on nine of the 23 charges lodged against him. After the ICTB announced the sentence, police reported that Chowdhury’s supporters “attacked governing party activists,” smashing and burning vehicles in Chittagong and Dhaka. Although the Bangladesh government has been praised for its efforts to prosecute war crimes through the ICTB, Human Rights Watch has also emphasized carry- ing out trials “in accordance with international hu- man rights expectations.” Indeed, after the ruling against Chowdhury, Amnesty International called for Bangladesh to overturn all five war crime death sentences because the ICTB’s procedures failed to meet international standards. The BNP argues that the trial was politically motivated, and Chow- dhury is expected to appeal.
The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War established the sovereign state of Bangladesh. The conflict began when Pakistan failed to accommodate demands for autonomy in East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh, in 1970, resulting in secessionist demands throughout the following year. In March 1971, the Pakistan Army launched a military campaign against Hindu communities, Bengali nationalists, and Bengali citizens oppos- ing the military’s refusal to accept East Pakistan’s democratic elections in 1970. They encountered mass defections among East Pakistani soldiers
and police. The conflict was marred by large-scale atrocities, resulting in thousands of deaths and millions of refugees. India entered the conflict on December 3, 1971, and eventually, Bengali and Indian forces defeated Pakistan.
Recently, Bangladesh has suffered violent pro- tests over war crimes convictions against leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party (Jamaat). Last month, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah, the Secretary General of Jamaat, to death over crimes com- mitted during the 1971 Liberation War. The ICTB overturned the ruling this February, instead sen- tencing Mollah to life in prison; however, Mollah’s conviction “unleashed a wave of unrest” between Jamaat supporters and pro-government groups.
Thus far, the ICTB has tried nine Jamaat leaders and two BNP members. In July 2013, the ICTB convicted Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Ghulam Azam of crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War. Mojaheed, the Secretary General of Jamaat, was indicted by the ICTB for seven counts of crimes against humanity in 2012. The ICTB ultimately sentenced him to death for “kidnapping and killing a journalist, music direc- tor, and others.” Azam was a prominent leader in Jamaat in Bangladesh until 2000, who opposed Bangladesh’s independence during the war. Azam was arrested by the ICTB in January 2012, after which preemptive requests for bail were denied.
In November 2011, the ICTB began indicting and prosecuting those that were instrumental in the mass killings conducted by the Pakistan Army dur- ing the nine-month war. The first defendant was Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a former member of the Parliament of the National Assembly of Bangla- desh and a former leader of Jamaat. Azam was sentenced to 90 years imprisonment for planning,
ILSA Quarterly » volume 22 » issue 2 » December 2013 5
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