On November 3, 2013, the controversial International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh released a verdict sentencing two expatriates to death by hanging for “aiding, abetting, instructing, ordering, encouraging, and providing moral support to” the murderers of 18 prominent pro-independence intellectuals during Bagladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. New York Times The two defendants are among several individuals convicted in absentia of war crimes and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, a court established under domestic law and within the Bangladeshi judicial system.
Shortly after Bangladesh gained its independence, both defendants left the country. [BBC] One defendant, Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, settled in London, where he is a prominent community leader for Muslim groups. The other defendant, Ashrafuzzaman Khan, moved to Pakistan before heading to New York, where he was active in the civil society organization Islamic Circle of North America. The two men were tried in absentia after the tribunal’s attempts to summon them into court failed. [BBC]
Prosecutors alleged that the killings took place between December 5 and 10, 1971 in order to exterminate the most notable intellectuals who supported independence, when Bangladesh’s victory in the war seemed assured. The three-judge panel stated in their ruling that the murders were carried out by a killing squad associated with a pro-Pakistani militia, of which both defendants were leaders. The Tribunal had also found that the killings were controlled and coordinated by Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist opposition party currently banned from participating in the upcoming Bangladeshi general elections. [New York Times] Some opposition groups suggest that Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is using the tribunal to target political enemies, and the trials have polarized the country. [Wall Street Journal]
Human rights organizations and other observers have repeatedly criticized the International Crimes Tribunal for failing to adequately safeguard defendants’ due process and fair trial rights, for subjecting defendants to arbitrary detention, and for imposing the death penalty. [IJRC] For more information on these criticisms and the Tribunal’s mandate, history and proceedings, refer to IJRC’s prior news post on the violence and protests surrounding the court’s previous convictions of members of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami political party.