Inside This issueHasina unleashes state 1Editor Council condemns 2Nationwide arrest 2

Volume 3 Issue2March 2, 2015

Centre forBangladesh

Studies

Police and Forces given License to kill Hasina unleashesstate-terrorDhaka: In Bangladesh opposition20-party alliance’s non-stop trans-port blockade further fuelled bynumerous grievances of the longsuffering public in districts coun-trywide have already turned theprotest movement into an ava-lanche of unceasing unrest. In re-sponse, widely unpopulargovernment of Sheikh Hasina hasunleashed state terror, randomarrests, gunpoint extortions, andlicense to kill or maim at will onany pretext to police and otherforces implicating opposition un-rest. Trigger-happy ransom-seek-ing ruling party thugs openlyaided by the police and other se-curity forces personnel are notonly taking things in their ownhands in murderous proliferationbut also openly boasting andthreatening violence. Govern-ment leaders at the very topgranted security forces licence tokill.

Addressing an evaluation meetingwith senior officials of theBangladesh Police the Prime Min-ister, Sheikh Hasina, ordered thepolice to take whatever stepsnecessary to stop the alleged on-going blockade by oppositionBangladesh Nationalist Party andJamaat-e-Islami across the coun-try, ‘I will take the responsibilityfor whatever happens(As aresultof such action) she said.

The meeting was held on 28thJanuary at the prime minister’s of-fice marking the Police Week2015. A number of Bangladeshinewspapers including Naya Di-ganta, New Age reported on 29thJanuary 2015.

Empowered by such licence in-stead of preventing street vio-lence top officials of the variousbranches of security services areissuing further orders to theirforces authorising indiscriminateviolence.

For example, almost on the que,the on 7th February DirectorGeneral of Police A. K. M. ShahidulHoque announced in ChittagongDampara Police Line that, ‘gov-ernment will never accept defeat,and the police will support thisgovernment with the last drop oftheir blood. We are exercising a

policy of zero tolerance’.

Questioned by the journalistsabout extra-judicial killing by thesecurity forces the Director Gen-eral of the Rapid Action Battalion(RAB) Banazir Ahmed told on25th January as widely reportedin Dhaka press, ‘ There is nothingcalled extra-juditial killing’. He fur-ther added, ‘were we given armsto play ‘Ha-Do-Do’ (a Bangladeshipopular game)’?

On 15th February, the DirectorGeneral of Border Guard Battal-ion (BGB) Major General AzizAhmed said in Dhaka MedicalCollege Hospital, ‘if necessaryBGB will not hesitate to use firearms, if I come across any miscre-ant I will not simply chase themwith a baton’.

Deputy Inspector General of Po-lice Dhaka Range S. M. MahfuzulHoque Nuruzzaman while ad-dressing a meeting in Gazipur Po-lice Line on 7th February openlyordered his forces to go further, ‘not just shoot them dead but de-stroy their entire family as well, ifyou manage to capture them dowhatever you want - responsibil-ity is mine’.

At a reception to acknowledgehis contribution to Police Forceand attended by large number ofrulling Awami League members,the notorious Superintendent ofGhazipur Police of MohammadHarunur Rashid, ordered his offi-cers to ‘beat protesters to death’.His unique contribution to policeforce which attained him notori-ority was achieved when he se-verely beaten up opposition BNPChief Whip Joynal Abedin Farooqin demonstration of the parlia-mentarians on 6th July 2011.

There are credible reports thatsenior security officials are meet-ing in various locations and plan-ning and in collision with rulingparty thugs executing fire bombattacks on public transportsburning to death in order to layblame on protesting oppositionsupports for such wanton act ofviolence against innocent

Cold-blooded murder not‘Gunfights’ Killing in ‘gunfights’ is now a regu-lar phenomenon and police state-ment is widely seen as a cover upto willful killing. A news reportpublished in a national daily on17th February stated that nineout of fifteen victims of policeshootouts over the past 26 dayswere innocent people and notlinked to any political party yetthey were arrested by law en-forcers and fired upon mainlyabove knees in cold blood.

The report identified one of thevictims as a day labourer, anothershopkeeper and yet another amobile toy vendor. Victims also in-cluded an expatriate and a univer-sity student, among others.Another report on the same daysaid 19 persons were killed in so-called gunfights during the sameperiod and the law enforcers jus-tified the killing terming the vic-tims as terrorists.Four people were killed on theday these reports were publishedI;e; Tuesday the 17th February inso-called gunfights – two at Cha-paibobabgonj and two at Jessore.

for a glimpse of the extent of bru-talities please read ‘Indiscrimi-nate state terror continuesunabated’ on page 3.

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Editors Council criticises government interference Dhaka: Editors Council, anorganization of editors ofhighest-circulated newspapersin the country, on24 Februarysaid that directives regardingprogrammes and news in themedia intervene with thefreedom of expression.

‘TV talk-show has been inter-vened in many ways. Sometalk-show programmes havebeen stopped so far. Lists oftalk-show discussants havebeen specified. Intervention isthere regarding TV live pro-grammes. We think the direc-tion regarding which itemswill be aired or not inter-venes with freedom of ex-pression,’ Editors Council said

in a statement issued after ameeting.

Alleging that some journalistsaren’t getting a chance tocover certain governmentand party programmes, thestatement said it can’t behelpful for independent mediato treat the media and otherforces as opposition.

The council hoped for a moreresponsible and co-operativebehavior from the govern-ment to preserve freedom,objectivity and neutrality ofall media including newspa-pers.

Mentioning that it becomes

tough for the media to workmaintaining freedom and neu-trality in recent times, thestatement said on one sideattacks are taking place onjournalists in the name of po-litical programmes, on theother, efforts are on tosqueeze the freedom ofmedia.

‘The government as well asadministration are creatingobstructions in collecting anddistributing neutral news.Sometimes some newspapershave been labeled as thespokesperson of a specificparty/quarter,’ the statementadded.

Activists of students and youth wing ofAwami League held with Bombs and ArmsLeaders of Chattra league andJubo league associate of rulingparty bangladesh AwamiLeague have been detained with petrolbombs and other firearmsalong with many miscreants invarious places of the countryincluding the capital Dhaka. Acomplaint has arisen that po-lice are releasing them soonafter being caught.

According to reports, Kaisar(25), a Chattra League leaderhas been arrested by policeon Monday night with a for-eign handgun, a round of bul-lets, and a magazine inDagonbhuiyan Bazar area ofFeni. Abul Kalam Azad, the of-fice-in-charge of Feni police,detective branch confirmedthe news to the media. Kaisaris the son of Kazem Ali. He isfrom Fazilpur village of thesub-district. He is a ChattraLeague leader of the ward no.2 of the corporation. But thepresident of the sub-districtChattra league, Asif Hossen,claimed Kaisar is not one ofthem.

Two Jubo league leadersnamed Manik and Babul havealso been arrested from Jo-gonnath Dighi area, Chouddo-gram subdistrict of Comilla

with petrol bombs. They bothare Jubo League leaders ofthat area. Locals said they hadbeen arrested on 11th Febru-ary, Wednesday at 11pm. Theoffice-in-charge of Chouddo-gram police station, UttamKumar Chakraborty, deniedthe report and said theyfound two abandoned petrolbombs on the road. But it hasbeen said that police freedboth Jubo League leadersfrom the police station.

Wasim (29), a Jubo Leagueleader has been arrested witha handgun on 16th Februaryevening from Joypura Collegegate, Ramganj of Laxmipur.His father’s name is Md.Hossen. He is from Kalamchavillage of the corporation. Heis the Vice-President of theward no.7 of the corporation.The Police said two local par-ties were arguing in front ofJoypura College gate on Mon-day afternoon. At that timeWasim intimidated the oppo-sition with a gun. Afterwardspolice detained him with thegun. The office-in charge ofRamgonj police station, Lok-man Hossen stated, he wasarrested red-handed with thegun on the basis of secret in-formation. But there was nobullet in it. A case has been

filed against him under thearms act.

Moreover, four leaders andmembers of Chattra Leaguewere severely injured whilemaking bombs on 11th Febru-ary night in Rupganj Chhanabarea of Narayanganj. Later onthey were admitted to a localclinic and the OrthopedicHospital. Among them, thecondition of a leader namedRahmatullah is critical. Policestated, on 11th February mid-night a loud bomb explosiontook place in the jute ware-house of Lokman Hossen, anAwami League leader ofBhulta union. Four ChattraLeague leaders including Rah-matullah were injured in thatincident. Afterwards localsrescued them and admittedthem to the Orthopedic Hos-pital and others. Next morn-ing high officials of the policeincluding the office in chargeof Rupganj police stationwent to visit the venue butfound it locked. Then theybroke into the house andseized a cache of evidence.They found ten machetes,several daggers and importedfirearms from there. It hasbeen accused that, right afterthe explosion, Awami andChattra League leaders tried

to remove all the evidencefrom the venue. The generalsecretary of Rupganj ChattraLeague, Hafizur Rahman Sajibclaimed to journalists that theinjured people are not fromChattra League.

In Laxmipur, two people diedin a recent arson attack on aCNG and a pickup van. Ja-maat has published a list alleg-ing Chattra League’sassociation with this incident.They have accused the localChattra League for a latenight petrol bomb attack, fol-lowed by capture and swiftrelease by police.

Laxmipur Police superinten-dent Shah Mijan Shafiur Rah-man told journalists that twoof the boys who belong toAwami League associatedfamilies are not convicted ofpetrol bomb attacks but ofwrecking vehicles. But thereare attempts to turn the mat-ter otherwise. The father ofone of the arrestees is associ-ated to the ruling AwamiLeague. However, Rahman al-leged that while the fatherwas from Awami League, thearrested son was from oppo-sition student party, Shibir.

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Alarming campaign of killingand arrest spreads fear Dhaka, Bangladesh - Analarming rise in the numberof killings of political activistsin Bangladesh since disputedparliamentary polls has leftgrassroots campaignersacross the country fearing fortheir lives.

Labelling the arrests and sub-sequent deaths of activists"extrajudicial killings", opposi-tion leaders have blamed thegovernment for targeting op-position activists. Several rul-ing party activists have alsobeen killed over the past twomonths.

Human rights groups fear thatthe crisis is likely to becomeeven worse in comingmonths, if the governmentdoes not take drastic steps tobring the killers to justice.

Deaths in custodyRobiul Islam was arrested onJanuary 27, his neighbourstold Al Jazeera. "Policesources had later informedthat, following a tip-off, a teamof the joint forces [the policeand paramilitary agencies]had conducted a raid," saidSaifur Rahman, a journalistbased in Jessore. "After theywere allegedly attacked byopposition activists, a gunfightensued between the twosides, during which Robiulwas shot."

Insecurity follows dis-puted Bangladesh voteThe Bangladesh NationalParty (BNP) activist died afew hours later, at a nearby

health facility. The police al-leged that Islam was involvedin the killing of ChaitanyaKumar Mandal, a local rulingparty leader, a day earlier.While the names and loca-tions change, the story re-mains the same across thecountry, as police and securityforces claim those who havebeen shot dead in custodyover the past month hadthemselves been involved inkillings.

On January 30, Touhidul Islam,one of the BNP's districtparty leaders, was also killedin a similar "gunfight" after hewas arrested in Sonaimuri.In its January 2014 monthlyreport, Odhikar, a Dhaka-based human rights group,counted more than 30 extra-judicial killings, "allegedly con-ducted by RAB [Rapid ActionBattalion], police, BGB [theparamilitary Border Guard]and joint forces" - in that onemonth alone.The report also said that 26of those killed were eitheractivists or leaders of theBNP or Jamaat, the country'slaregst Islamist party.Atiqur Rahman, a joint secre-tary of Bangladesh ChhatraDal - the student wing of theBNP - was one of those killedlast month.

After being accused of attack-ing Cultural Affairs MinisterAsaduzzaman Noor's motor-cade in December, 26-year-old Rahman had gone intohiding in Tangail, in the centreof the country.

"On the night of January 13,at least six people whoclaimed to be members ofthe detective branch of thepolice stormed into my houseand picked up Atiqur and Mo-hidul Islam [Rahman's cousinand Jamaat activist]," saidBabul Khan, a relative whowas sheltering Rahman.

Although Rahman's corpsewas reportedly recovered bypolice on January 20 near theSaidpur bypass road, the fam-ily say his cousin Mohidul isstill missing.Some 302 BNP leaders andactivists - and its 18 allies -have been either murderedor "disappeared" betweenDecember 26 and January 27,said Khaleda Zia, BNP chair-person, on February 4. Some29,262 opposition supporterswere arrested across thecountry during the same pe-riod, she said.

"Security forces and rulingparty activists were behindthe killings and forced disap-pearance," said Zia, a two-time former prime minister."According to the informa-tion collected at BNP head-quarters, in one month, 242opposition leaders and ac-tivists were killed and 60were victims of enforced dis-appearances," Zia told re-porters.The fear of arrests and extra-judicial killings has grippedpolitical campaigners.

Little confidenceHuman rights groups fear the

worst for Bangladesh's poli-tics if the killings of politicalactivists continue."The rate of killings have in-creased at an alarming rate,"said Nur Khan, director of in-vestigations at Ain O SalishKendra (ASK), a human rightsorganisation in Dhaka.ASK noted 33 extrajudicialkillings during January. Lastyear, they recorded morethan 200 extrajudicial killingsin Bangladesh.

"The targets are mostly op-position activists and leaders,"said Khan. "If the oppositionis not allowed to practicetheir democratic rights toprotest, they will eventuallylook for other alternatives."If political killings continue,the rise of armed religiouspolitical parties will be in-evitable in Bangladesh."Human Rights Watch hasurged Bangladesh's govern-ment to bring a halt to thedeaths.

Brad Adams, executive direc-tor of the Asia division ofHuman Rights Watch, said therepeated use of "the samestory" - that of a detaineesomehow being shot whentaken to the scene of an al-leged crime - was "ridicu-lous".

"These stories are even lessbelievable when the victim isa politically unpopular per-son," he said. "The authoritiessimply have no credibilitywhen they make theseclaims."

Arrest warrant issued for Khaleda ZiaFeb 25 (Reuters) – ABangladesh court issued ar-rest warrants on Wednesdayfor former prime ministerand opposition leaderKhaleda Zia, action likely toescalate tension fuelling anti-government protests in whichmore than 100 people havebeen killed over the pastmonth.A special anti-corruptioncourt issued the warrantsafter declining her lawyers’plea for more time in twograft cases.“The court issued warrants

against her … There is no jus-tice,” Khaleda’s lawyerSanaullah Miah told re-porters.Khaleda is accused of embez-zling $650,000 in two corrup-tion cases involving charitablefunds during her last term asprime minister from 2001 to2006.

She has failed to appear in-court for hearings citing secu-rity concerns.She and leaders of her partyhave denied the charges say-

ing they are politically moti-vated.Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nation-alist Party refused to takepart in a general election ayear ago, saying it was rigged.

It stepped up protests lastmonth in a bid to force PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina tostep down and hold a newvote under a neutral care-taker administration.

Bangladeshi politics has beenmired for years in rivalry be-tween Hasina and Khaleda.

Both women are related toformer national leaders, andthey have alternated as primeminister for most of the pasttwo decades.

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Bangladesh orders top Jamaatleader to hang, fuelling unrest

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s warcrimes tribunal ordered theexecution of a senior Islamistleader Wednesday after con-victing him of atrocities dur-ing the country’s 1971independence war, triggeringviolence outside the court.

The verdict is expected tofurther inflame tensions inBangladesh where an allianceof opposition parties, includ-ing Jamaat, is trying to topplethe government of PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina.

At least 87 people have diedsince early January when theleader of the main opposition

Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) called on supportersto blockade roads, railwaysand waterways to forceHasina to call new polls.

Justice Obaidul Hassan, headof the controversial Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal (ICT),handed down the sentences,saying the 79-year-old leaderwould be “hanged by the neckuntil his death”.

“He was found guilty of sixout of nine charges. As aleader of Jamaat, he collabo-rated with Pakistan army andhe carried out in the name ofIslam, “prosecutor SultanMahmud told reporters.

Subhan is the 17th personand the 12th and the JamaatLeader to be convicted by thecourt, which is a domestic tri-bunal set up by Hasina’s gov-ernment without any

international oversight.

Prosecutors said Subhan wasthe head of Jamaat and a pro-Pakistani militia in the north-western district town ofPabna and he actively tookpart in the murder of hun-dreds of innocent villagersandminority Hindus in the 1971conflict when the then EastPakistan seceded from Islam-abad.

Defence lawyers said theywould appeal the verdict asthe charges against Subhanwere “false and baseless”.

The war crimes court hasmostly focused on the trialsof the Jamaat leaders who op-posed the break-up of Pak-istan and saw the liberationwar by Bengalis as a conspir-acy by majority-Hindu India.

Previous death sentences

handed down against Jamaatleaders, including its supremeand spiritual leaders, plungedBangladesh into its deadliestunrest in 2013.

Thousands of Islamistsclashed with police in nation-wide protests over the ver-dicts and other issues andsome 500 people were killed.

BNP leader Khaleda Zia andJamaat say the trials areaimed at eliminating opposi-tion leaders rather than ren-dering justice while rightsgroups have said they fallshort of international stan-dards.

The government maintainsthey are needed to heal thewounds of the war, which itsays left three million peopledead. Independent re-searchers put the toll muchlower.

SC releases full verdict of KamaruzzamanThe Supreme Court on Mon-day 2 march released the fullverdict upholding the deathpenalty for Jamaat-e-Islamileader Muhammad Kamaruz-zaman in a war crimes case.

Earlier in the day, all the fourSC judges, who had deliveredthe verdict on November 3last year by a majority deci-sion, signed the 577-pagejudgment.

They judges are Chief JusticeSK Sinha, Justice Md AbdulWahhab Miah, Justice HasanFoez Siddique and JusticeAHM Shamsuddin ChoudhuryManik.

The government can nowstart process for executingKamaruzzaman as theSupreme Court released thefull judgment upholding hisdeath penalty, Attorney Gen-eral Mahbubey Alam said afterthe release of the verdict.

There is no legal bar for thegovernment to fix a date forthe execution of the Jamaat’sassistant secretary general, hetold The Daily Star.

He however said the execu-tion process will be sus-pended if the convict files a

review petition with the apexcourt challenging his deathpenalty.

Sishir Monir, the defencelawyer confirmed the re-porters that they have re-cieved the certified copy ofthe verdict. He also informedthat they will file a review pe-tition challenging the verdict.

Kamaruzzaman, an AssistantSecretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, faced a total ofseven charges levied againsthim in relation to crimescommitted during the 1971war. He denies all charges asbaseless and pleaded inno-cent. His lawyers and familyhave alleged his trial was po-litically motivated and repletewith flaws.

Among criticisms of the trialprocess are that during thewar Kamaruzzaman was ateenager thus ineligible forthe high paramilitary role heis alleged to have held. Fur-thermore, the charges againsthim are all unprecedented; inthe 40 years since the war, nocharges or allegations of anycrimes during the war werelevied against him. This in-cluded in the post war periodwhen Kamaruzzaman was ar-

rested among many duringmass arrests of those sus-pected of being local collabo-rators. No evidence wasfound against Kamaruzzamanand he was immediately re-leased.

Criticisms have also emergedregarding the trial process, in-cluding the arbitrary limit toonly five witnesses placed onthe defence with no suchlimit placed on the prosecu-tion. The ICT has also facedcriticism following the “tri-bunalgate” scandal whereinleaked recordings revealedcollusion between judges,prosecution, government offi-cials and individuals externalto the trial with vested inter-ests.

Talking to The Daily Star, At-torney General MahbubeyAlam said Kamaruzzaman hasto file the review petitionwith the SC within 15 days

after the release of the fulljudgment.

The Appellate Division of theSC might take a few days forhearing and disposing of thereview petition, if filed by theconvict, he added. The scopefor reviewing judgments incriminal cases is very little,observed the attorney gen-eral.

Justice SK Sinha, now thechief justice, headed the four-member SC bench. The othermembers were Justice MdAbdul Wahhab Miah, JusticeHasan Foez Siddique and Jus-tice AHM ShamsuddinChoudhury Manik. The SChas so far completed the tri-als of two war crimes ac-cused, while the trials ofseven others are pendingwith it.

On 15 February 2015, Ka-maruzzaman’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami issued a statementcondemning the impendingverdict and alleging the gov-ernment is intending to exe-cute Kamaruzzaman as an actof political expediency in thecurrent political impasse grip-ping the nation.

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Victim families called for JusticeIndiscriminate state terror continues unabatedDhaka: The family members ofthe victim of extra judicial killingin Bangladesh by various securityforces have appealed to the In-ternational Criminal Court totake intiative to secure justice forthe victims. Extrajudicial execu-tions in police custody in thename of “crossfire” or “gunfight”killings have seen a spike in re-cent weeks. More than 29 oppo-sition people, mostly students,have been killed in this mannersince January 5 2015. Statementswere sent to the ICC from thevictims family seeking justice fortheir loved one.

A total of 30 victims family wroteto the ICC seeking justice for theindiscriminate murder of theirchildren by the Bangladeshi secu-rity foreces in a bid to cull cur-rent anti governmnet prtest.

One of them is Saleha Begum,Motherof Saqibul Islam. He wasstudying in BA (Honors) – 2ndYear at University of Chittagong.Sakib was arrested on the waywhile he was returning home. Hewas brutally tortured in custody,and then sent to hospital. Whenhis situation deteriorated, he wastransferred to the Apollo Hospi-tal at Dhaka, where he breathedhis last on 28th January, 2015. Ac-cording to Saleha, her son wasnot involved in any kinds of anti-sate activity. He was a peacefulyoung men with aspiration for abetter life. Saleha appealed to theInternation Criminal Court toensure justice for her son, whowas a victiom of extra judicialkilling by Bangladeshi police force.

Like Saleha many others familiesalso wrote to the ICC.

Md Emdadullah was pickedup from his home beforekilled: Md Emdadullah) was a 23years old young man. He was astudent of Honors (2nd Year) atDhaka College. He was picked upfrom his residence by police on30th January, as informed bythose who witnessed. After abrutal night in the custody, hewas killed on 31st January, 2015at midnight. His dead body wasfound around the Beribadh areaof Rupnagar, Mirpur.

DB arrested Md Shahabud-din Patwary: He was a studentof Honors final year at the Soci-ology department of Comilla Vic-toria College. He was arrested byDetective Branch (DB) from ourhome at Chouddagram, Comillaat the afternoon, February 5,2015. Then, he went missing. Wecouldn’t find a trace of him. Hisdead body was found the verynext day (February 6) at the mor-tuary of Comilla Medical CollegeHospital.

Md Shahabuddin’s limbswere severed by bullets: Shah-buddin was a student of CropSciences Department of the Uni-versity of Rajshahi. He was ar-rested on the night of 5thFebruary, 2015 from Katakhaliarea of Rajshahi. Later on, Policebrought his dead body at the Ra-jshahi Medical College Hospital.He was brutally tortured andshot multiple times from closerange. His limbs were disfigureddue to the inhumane torture.

Jasim Uddin Hawladar wasarrested on his way home:Md. Jasim Uddin Hawlader (23)was sixth son of Abdur Razzaq

Hawlader. Being a student ofKazipara Siddiquia Fazil Madrasah,he had just appeared in the Fazilfinal exam and was waiting for hisresult. He had outstanding aca-demic results in his previousexams. Police arrested him whilereturning to his residence onFebruary 07, 2015. Later on hehad been killed in cold blood bymembers of law enforcing agen-cies under so called "crossfire" atnight in Aagargaon, Taltala. His

dead body was found in theDhaka Medical College Hospitalmorgue.

Crossfire, gunfights and shootinginnocent people are nothing new.However, this such extra-judicialkilling gained a new dimensionafter the BNP-led 20 party al-liance lauched the latest spate ofdemonstration — continuousblockade and occasional hartal –since 6 January.

Avijit’s murder: Government hand discoveredDhaka: Information MinsterHasanul Haq Inu and other fellowbloggers were behind the killingof Avijit, according to a details re-port published on Newsbd7.com,an online Bangladeshi news por-tal. In an evidence-rich, indepthinvesigative report the portal sat-ted that, initial planning for thekilling of Avijit took place in thehouse of Arafat A Rahman, a lec-turer of the Independent Univer-sity. In the meeting, InformationMinster Hasanul Haq Inu andowner of 71 TV Muzammel HaqBabu were also present. Mah-mudul Haq Munshi, leader of afaction of Ganajagoron Manchtold Bdnews7 that Avijit waskilled according to the directivefrom the the ministry of informa-tion. He vowed to unveil the full

truth at a convenient time. Hesaid that fear for his life is pro-hibiting him to reveal the truthnow.

Detail plan for killing took placein a subsquent meeting at TSC ofDhaka University where, MesbahKamal, Anwar Hussain, BappadityaBasu, Samsul Islam Suman, JayadevNandi, Ershadur Rahman Chowd-hury, Omar Sharif, Arif Jebtikand some members from thearmy. Former colonel Taher’sbrother Professor Anwar Hussainmaintain the liason with the army.

According to a CCTV footageconfirmed by RAB two blogersnamely Arif Jebtik and Amy Rah-man Piayal were present prior tothe killing of Avjit throughout theevening.

Soon after the killing of Avijit, Ja-maat condemned the attrocity.However, media and governmentstrated a chorus blaming Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamic outfits.Immidiately after publication ofthis sensational behind the scenestory of Avijit killing, the Jamaatdemanded that a full invesigationshould be carried out on Avijitkilling under the supervision of aUN commission.

The killing of Avijit can becomapred with the killing of theopposition leader of Russia, whowas most probably killed by Putinhimself and later he formed an in-vestigation team and announcedthat the investigation will con-tinue under his supervision.

Similar thing may happen if no in-

dependent inquiry take place tofind out the real culprit behindthe Avijit killing. As Hasina has along history of ordering murderto divert the political flow.

Avijit killing took place at timewhen Sheikh Hasina’s govern-ment was fwas on the brink ofcollupse and severely criticised inhome and abroad.

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Editor: Ahmed Kamal. Published by Sadek Abdullah on behalf of Centre for Bangladesh Studies, London117 Mile End Road, London E1 1DT. Email : info.centreforbangladesh@gmail.com

Caught red-handedThe lying Awami MinsterThe visiting delegation fromthe European Union has ex-pressed their disgust at theremark of the State Ministerfor Foreign Affairs ShahriarAlam in which he claimedthat the European Union hasexpressed no concern overthe human rights situation inBangladesh.

Shahriar Alam claimed withregards the visiting delegationwhile addressing a press con-ference at his Ministry on

Wednesday the 18th Febru-ary after holding a meetingwith the delegation.

The head of the visiting EUdelegation, Cristian DanPreda, expressed their partic-ular dissatisfaction regardingthe Foreign Minister’s re-marks to the press followingtheir meeting with the Na-tional Human Rights Com-mission Chairman, Dr.Mizanur Rahman, this morn-ing.

Quoting a report of the Min-ister’s remarks from an Eng-lish daily to the media, DanPreda rejected the remarksstating, “I saw in The DailyStar the declaration of StateMinister Shahriar Alam sayingI quote ‘EU team not con-cerned about human rightssituation’ and my declarationis very simple: We are herebecause we are very con-cerned about human rightssituation.”

Daily Star reported Christian DanPreda’s rebuke to the state ministeras ‘Top Quote’ with this photographof Mr. Pedra the next day

Independent report concludesICT is flawed and below international standardFebruary 17: An independentreport by Geoffrey Robert-son QC into the proceedingsof the International CrimesTribunal (ICT) in Bangladeshwas recently published. Thereport is the first of its kindand concludes that the Tri-bunal’s Procedures fall seri-ously short of internationalstandards.

The Bar Human Rights Com-mittee of England and Walespublished the report on theirsite. The views within the re-port do not necessarily re-flect those of the BHRC.

Geoffrey Robertson QC fol-lowed up the report with apress conference on 17 Feb-ruary 2015, where he high-lighted a number of the keyconcerns highlighted by thereport. Acknowledging that“1971 was too early for inter-national justice” he notedthat an “unhappy and ques-tionable series of events” sur-rounded the trial andexecution of prisoners at theBangladesh ICT.According to the 126-pagereport, the major concernsabout the ICT are that theTribunal lacks impartiality, itallows for the death penaltyto be imposed without pro-viding a higher standard ofprocedural safeguards, it per-

mits trials in absentia andthere are concerns about wit-ness tampering and intimida-tion.

Further, the Tribunal appearsto have no rules about admis-sibility of evidence: many ofthe convictions have beenbased on hearsay, and in ef-fect, on guilt by association.The Tribunal does not providethe basic guarantees requiredby international human rightstreaties; the rules about pro-viding adequate time and fa-cilities to prepare a defencehave been consistentlybreached, and most notably,defendants are excluded fromenjoying the constitutionalprotections available to allother Bangladeshi citizens.

The detailed report describeshow the war in 1971 in EastPakistan started with masskillings of many hundreds ofthousands of Bengalis, accom-panied by widespread torturewith rapes designed to affectthe ethnic balance and thesubsequent exodus of mil-lions of refugees. At the end, afew days before Pakistan’sforeseeable surrender camethe most spiteful killings – ofthe professionals, teachersand community leaders whomight have made a contribu-tion to the nascent state of

Bangladesh.

In 1973, the InternationalCrimes (Tribunal) Act, draftedwith the assistance of the In-ternational Commission of Ju-rists, established a procedureand a court for trying thoseaccused of the crimes com-mitted in the course of the1971 attack on East Pakistan.It was not until 2010, afterthe Awami League had wonthe elections, that the Actwas reactivated, amended andbrought into operation with atribunal.

A number of men associatedwith the Jamaat-e-Islami, ademocratic political partywhose leaders in 1971 sup-ported the Pakistani army andopposed independence, wereimmediately detained for alengthy period before beingcharged variously with geno-cide, crimes against humanityand war crimes: they were allconvicted in the course of2013 and most were sen-tenced to death. The trialscontinue today in relation toother accused and suspectsare still being arrested.

According to GeoffreyRobertson QC during thepress conference earliertoday, we now “have this par-adox that although the court

was set up entirely properlyfor a legitimate objective weseemed to have reached astage where what it is doingis ordering the execution ofthe governments’ main oppo-nents.”

The trials have been accom-panied by violent massdemonstrations, both byAwami League supporterswho demanded death sen-tences for all accused, and byJamaat supporters whodemonstrated against thejudgments of the Tribunal.Protests came also from for-eign governments and humanrights organisations, as theBangladeshi government haseschewed all offers of inter-national assistance, includingthat of UN legal advisers, be-cause this help was contin-gent upon abandoning thesentence of death and onsticking to international fairtrial standards.

The report concludes withthe finding that the ICT isflawed, and that the only res-olution is for the UN SecurityCouncil to develop an ad hocinternational tribunal to hearthe cases and to hold the pri-mary perpetrators of the1971 genocide, the senior of-ficers of the Pakistan army, ac-countable for their actions.