1971 Bangladesh Genocide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
War crimes trial attempts
As early as 22 December 1971, the
Indian Army was conducting investigations of senior Pakistani Army officers connected to the massacre of intellectuals in Dhaka, with the aim of collecting sufficient evidence to have them tried as war criminals. They produced a list of officers who were in positions of command at the time, or were connected to the Inter-Services Screening Committee.
[95]
On 24 December 1971 Home minister of Bangladesh
A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman said, "war criminals will not survive from the hands of law. Pakistani military personnel who were involved with killing and raping have to face tribunal." In a joint statement after a meeting between Sheikh Mujib and
Indira Gandhi, the Indian government assured that it would give all necessary assistance for bringing war criminals into justice. In February 1972, the government of Bangladesh announced plans to put 100 senior Pakistani officers and officials on trial for crimes of genocide. The list included General
A. K. Niazi and four other generals.
[96] After the war, the Indian Army held 92,000 Pakistani prisoners of war,
[97] and 195 of those were suspected of committing war crimes. All 195 of them were released in April 1974 following the tripartite
Simla agreement between Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, and repatriated to Pakistan, in return for Pakistan's recognition of Bangladesh.
[98] Pakistan expressed her interest to perform a trial against those 195 officials and furthermore fearing for the fate of 400,000 Bangalis trapped in Pakistan, Bangladesh agreed to handover them to Pakistani authority.
[99]
On 30 July 2009, the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh stated that no Pakistanis would be tried under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973.
[100] This decision has drawn criticism from international jurists, because it effectively gives immunity to the commanders of the Pakistani Army who are generally considered to be ultimately responsible for the majority of the crimes that were committed in 1971.
[100]
The Bangladeshi Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order of 1972 was promulgated to bring to trial those Bangladeshis who collaborated with and aided the Pakistani Armed forces during the Liberation War of 1971.
[101] There are conflicting accounts of the number of persons brought to trial under the 1972 Collaborators Order, ranging between 10,000 and 40,000.
[102] At the time, the trials were considered problematic by local and external observers, because they appear to have been used for carrying out political vendettas. R. MacLennan, a British MP who was an observer at the trials stated that 'In the dock, the defendants are scarcely more pitiable than the succession of confused prosecution witnesses driven (by the 88-year-old defence counsel) to admit that they, too, served the Pakistani government but are now ready to swear blindly that their real loyalty was to the government of Bangladesh in exile.'
[103]
The government of Bangladesh issued a general amnesty on 30 November 1973, applying it to all persons except those who were punished or accused of rape, murder, attempted murder or arson.
[102] The Collaborators Order of 1972 was revoked in 1975.
The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 was promulgated to prosecute any persons, irrespective of nationality, who were accused of committing crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, "violations of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949" and "any other crimes under international law".
[104] Detainees held under the 1972 Collaborators order who were not released by the general amnesty of 1973 were going to be tried under this Act. However, no trials were held, and all activities related to the Act ceased after the
assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
There are no known instances of criminal investigations or trials outside Bangladesh of alleged perpetrators of war crimes during the 1971 war. Initial steps were taken by the
Metropolitan Police to investigate individuals resident in the United Kingdom who were alleged to have committed war crimes in a
Channel 4 documentary film aired in 1995. To date, no charges have been brought against these individuals.
[105]
On 29 December 1991
Ghulam Azam, who was accused of being a collaborator with Pakistan in 1971, became the chairman or Ameer of the political party
Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh, which caused controversy. This prompted the creation of a 'National Committee for Resisting the Killers and Collaborators of 1971', after a proposal by writer and political activist
Jahanara Imam. A mock people's court was formed which on 26 March 1992, found Ghulam Azam guilty in a mock trial and sentenced him to death.
A case was filed in the Federal Court of Australia on 20 September 2006 for alleged crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971 by the Pakistani Armed Forces and its collaborators. Raymond Solaiman & Associates acting for the plaintiff Mr. Solaiman, have released a press statement which among other things says:
[106]
“ We are glad to announce that a case has been filed in the Federal Magistrate's Court of Australia today under the Genocide Conventions Act 1949 and War Crimes Act. This is the first time in history that someone is attending a court proceeding in relation to the [alleged] crimes of Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971 by the Pakistani Armed Forces and its collaborators. The Proceeding number is SYG 2672 of 2006. On October 25, 2006, a direction hearing will take place in the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, Sydney registry before Federal Magistrate His Honor Nicholls. ”
On 21 May 2007, at the request of the applicant "Leave is granted to the applicant to discontinue his application filed on September 20, 2006." (FILE NO: (P)SYG2672/2006)
[107]
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is a war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the
Pakistan Army and their local collaborators,
Razakars,
Al-Badr and
Al-Shams during the
Bangladesh Liberation War.
[108] During the
2008 general election, the
Awami League (AL) pledged to establish the tribunals in response to long-demanded popular calls for trying war criminals. The first indictments were issued in 2010.
The government set up the tribunal after the
Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with more than two-thirds majority in parliament.
[109] The
War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, tasked to investigate and find evidence, completed its report in 2008, identifying 1600 suspects.
[110][111] Prior to the formation of the ICT, the
United Nations Development Programme offered assistance in 2009 on the tribunal's formation.
[112] In 2009 the parliament amended the 1973 act that authorised such a tribunal to update it.
[113]
By 2012, nine leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in the nation, and two of the
Bangladesh National Party, had been indicted as suspects in war crimes. Three leaders of Jamaat were the first tried; each were convicted of several charges of war crimes. The first person convicted was
Abul Kalam Azad,
tried in absentia as he had left the country; he was sentenced to death in January 2013.
While human rights groups
[114] and various political entities
[115][116] initially supported the establishment of the tribunal, they have criticised it for issues of fairness and transparency, as well as reported harassment of lawyers and witnesses representing the accused.
[114][117][118][119] Jamaat-e-Islami supporters and their student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, called a general strike nationwide on 4 December 2012, which erupted in violence. They have demanded the tribunal be scrapped permanently and their leaders be released immediately.
[120] [121][122]
After
Abdul Quader Molla, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, was convicted in February 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment rather than capital punishment, a
peaceful demonstration started at Shahbag intersection in Dhaka. Tens of thousands of mostly young demonstrators, including women, have called for the death penalty for those convicted of war crimes. Non-violent protests supporting this position have occurred in other cities as the country closely follows the trials. Abdul Quader Molla was subsequently executed at 10:01 pm on Thursday 12 December 2013 amid controversy on the legitimacy of the war tribunal hearings that drew wide criticism from countries such as US, UK and Turkey and also the UN. A period of unrest ensued organised by the Jamaat-e-Islam. The majority of the population were however found to be in favour of the execution.
[123]
Why hasn't Bangladesh brought this "genocide" to the attention of International community and why hasn't any Pakistani officer involved in this "genocide" been put on trial in an international court?? Because there is no evidence to prove that this was a genocide and the claims of number of people raped and murdered are truly exaggerated.
