| Movement demanding trial of war criminals | |
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| Location | Bangladesh |
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The movement demanding trial of war criminals is a protest movement in Bangladesh, from 1972 to present demanding trial of the perpetrators of 1971 Bangladesh genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War from Pakistan. [4]
The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March 1971 after Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight on 25 March. [5] [6] During Operation Searchlight, Pakistan Army attacked East Pakistan Rifles, East Pakistan Ansar, and Rajarbagh police barracks. [5] The soldiers also attacked the University of Dhaka and Hindu majority neighborhoods in the city. [5] The Pakistan Army target civilians in their war effort. [5] These actions are collectively known as the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide. [5] From 14 to 16 December, Pakistan Army and local collaborators targeted and killed Bengali academics, writers, doctors and other intellectuals. [7] [8] The two days are known as the 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals. [9] The war lasted until 16 December when Pakistan surrendered to a joint forces of Indian military and Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini. [6]
After the Independence of Bangladesh, the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led government passed the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972 on 24 January for the trial of war criminals and collaborators of Pakistan Army. [10] On 20 July 1973, the government passed the separate International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 for the trial of Pakistani soldiers accused of war crimes. [10] On 30 November 1973, the government of Bangladesh issued a pardon for collaborators who were not charged with war crimes such as rape, murder, arson etc. [10] Total collaborators in custody was 37 thousand of whom 26 thousand were released after the amnesty. [10]
President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed in the 15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état and Awami League government overthrown. [11] [12] Major General Ziaur Rahman repealed the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972 which paved the way for the release of all detained collaborators and war crime accused. [10] [13]
In 1972, the spouses of martyred intellectuals started the peaceful protest. Wife of Zahir Raihan, who was killed in January 1972 by Bihari collaborators of Pakistan Army, took first step for this. [14] Zahir Raihan's brother, Shahidullah Kaiser, was a victim of enforced disappearance by local collaborators including Abdul Majid Majumder, office secretary of Dhaka District unit of Jamaat-e-Islami, identified by witnesses of the abduction. [15]
As the ruler of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman (1975–1981) enacted several controversial measures, ostensibly to win the support of Islamic political parties and opponents of the Awami League. [16] [17] [18] In 1978, he revoked the ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, [19] which was widely believed to have collaborated with the Pakistani army and members of which are alleged to have committed war crimes against civilians. [20] [21]
Ghulam Azam, the exiled chief of the Jammat-e-Islami, was allowed to come back to Bangladesh in July 1978 with a Pakistani Passport. [22] In 1991 December Ghulam Azam, was elected the Amir of Jamaat-e-Islam. Subsequently, Jahanara Imam organized the Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee (Committee to exterminate the Killers and Collaborators). [23] The committee called for the trial of people who committed crimes against humanity in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War in collaboration with the Pakistani forces. [24] The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee set up mock trials in Dhaka in March 1992 known as Gono Adalat (Court of the people) and 'sentenced' persons they accused of being war criminals. [25] Imam and others were charged with treason. [25] This charge was, however, dropped in 1996 after her death by the Chief Advisor Mohammed Habibur Rahman of the Caretaker government of that time. [26]
On 2007, at the regime of military backed Caretaker government, students of Govt. Bangla College took step for mass protest like human chain, symbolic hunger strike, rally, discussion, silence protest, flower placement demanding trial of war criminals of 1971 and to build monument for martyrs in Bangla College Killing Field. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] Organizations based on Liberation war, cultural organization, political parties expressed deep support to this movement led and co-ordinated by general students. [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] Students played strong role in street from 2007 to 2010 and also continues activity in internet. [37] [38] [39] [40]
Post Liberation Students Union for Better Bangladesh (PSUBD) held protests and demonstrations urging trial of war criminals. Students from most of the universities in Dhaka joined the protest, demonstrations and human chains organised by PSUBD. [41]
PSUBD continued to demand the trial of war criminals by holding protests, demonstrations, human chains and other activities to gain public support on the issue. Before the general election'08 PSUBD organised demonstration at TSC urging not to vote war criminals. [41] Sector Commanders Forum calls for protest. [42]
In 2010, the Awami League led Government of Bangladesh established the International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) for the trial of war criminals from Bangladesh Liberation War under an amended version of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973. [43] [44]
The 2013 Shahbag protests, associated with a central neighborhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh, began on February 5, 2013, and later spread to other parts of Bangladesh, as people demanded capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and for others convicted of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal. [45] [46] On that day, the International Crimes Tribunal had sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah to life in prison after he was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes. [47] [48] Later demands included banning the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party from politics and a boycott of institutions supporting (or affiliated with) the party. [46] [49] [50]
Jahanara Imam was a Bangladeshi writer and political activist. She is known for her efforts to bring those accused of committing war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War to trial. She has been called "Shaheed Janani".
Ghulam Azam was a Bangladeshi Islamist politician. He was the former leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh.
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi was a Bangladeshi Islamist, convicted war criminal, public speaker, and politician, who served as a Member of Parliament representing the Pirojpur-1 constituency from 1996 to 2006.
Motiur Rahman Nizami was a politician, former Minister of Bangladesh, Islamic scholar, writer, and the former leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He is noted for leading the terror squad Al-Badr during the Bangladesh Liberation War. On 29 October 2014, he was convicted of masterminding the Demra massacre by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Nizami was the Member of Parliament for the Pabna-1 constituency from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. He also served as the Bangladeshi Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Industry.
Razakar Urdu: رضا کار, literally "volunteer"; Bengali: রাজাকার) was an East Pakistani paramilitary force organised by General Tikka Khan in then East Pakistan, now called Bangladesh, during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The force is accused of committing war crimes during the war including massacring civilians, looting, and rape.
The Al-Badr was a paramilitary force composed mainly of Bihari Muslims which operated in East Pakistan against the Bengali nationalist movement during the Bangladesh Liberation War, under the patronage of the Pakistani government.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was a Bangladeshi politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as the Minister of Social Welfare from 2001 to 2007. He was executed in 2015 for war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh.
Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was a Bangladeshi politician and journalist who served as the senior assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and was convicted of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh. He was executed by hanging at Dhaka Central Jail at 22:01 on 11 April 2015.
Shahriyar Kabir is a Bangladeshi journalist, filmmaker, human rights activist, and author of more than 70 books focusing on human rights, communism, fundamentalism, history, and the Bangladesh war of independence. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1995.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. On 1 August 2013, the Bangladesh Supreme Court cancelled the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami, ruling that the party is unfit to contest national elections.
Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, is a war criminal convicted of the murder of Bengali intellectuals in collaboration with the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War. After the liberation of Bangladesh, Chowdhury escaped from Bangladesh and took British citizenship. He has been a fugitive absconding in the UK ever since.
The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic 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. During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) pledged to try war criminals. The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with a more than two-thirds majority in parliament.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is an ongoing tribunal in Bangladesh that aims to investigate and administer justice regarding the war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes against peace committed by Pakistan army and their local collaborators Razakar, Al-Badr, Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. In 2008's public election, one of the principal electoral manifestos of the Awami League was to initiate the trial process of war criminals. As promised, a member of parliament from Awami League submitted the proposal of the trial of war criminals on 29 January 2009 in National Parliament and the proposal was accepted unanimously. Finally after 39 years of Liberation of Bangladesh, on 25 March, the tribunal, attorney panel and investigation organization was formed for the trial of the ones accused of war crimes.
Abul Kalam Azad was a former Bangladeshi politician of the Jamaat-e-Islami, televangelist and convicted war criminal of the Bangladesh liberation war.
Abdul Quader Mollah was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, writer, and politician of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh (ICT) set up by the government of Bangladesh and hanged. There were objections from the United Nations, the governments of several countries, including Turkey, and international human rights organizations but there was widespread support from the general public of Bangladesh for the execution.
On 5 February 2013, protests began in Shahbag, Bangladesh, following demands for the execution of Abdul Quader Mollah, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment and convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Later demands included banning the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party from politics including election and a boycott of institutions supporting the party.
The 2012 ICT Skype controversy was the leaking of Skype conversations and emails between Mohammed Nizamul Huq, head judge and chairman of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, and Ahmed Ziauddin, a Bangladeshi lawyer based in Brussels. These conversations took place during the prosecution of the accused for alleged war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
The Bangladesh Collaborators Order, 1972 is a law enacted in 1972 by the Government of Bangladesh to establish a tribunal to prosecute local collaborators who helped or supported the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War and the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. An estimated 11,000 collaborators were arrested. An estimated 2,884 cases were filed at the tribunal until October 1973. Of those accused, 752 received sentencing. Many detainees were released after the 15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état.
Maulana Abul Kalam Muhammad Yusuf was a Bangladeshi religious scholar, writer, activist and politician. Yusuf was a specialist in the study of Hadith : he earned the title "Mumtaz al-Muhaddethin" for his advanced degree in hadith sciences, and has also published books widely in the field.
Khondakar Abu Taleb (1921-1971) was a Bangladeshi journalist who was killed by Pakistani Army in the Bangladesh Liberation and is considered a "martyr" in Bangladesh.
