Bangladesh’s International Crims Tribunal Accepted on Sunday (June 1) That Option Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Could Be Charged With Crimes Against Humanity.
The Court directed inventigators to Produce Hasina, as well as a former home minister and a former police child, before the court on june 16. Hasina has been in exile in august 2024, Culmination of her 15 -yar reign in power. Bangladesh sent a formal request to India to extradite Hasina in December 2024.
What is the standing of this court, and what is Hasina accused of? We explain.
What is Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal?
The tribunal was established under the international crimes (tribunals) act. It was passed two years after the Liberation War of 1971 LED to the formation of Bangladesh, formerly know as East Pakistan.
The act provided for the “Detection, Prosecution and Punishment of Persons for Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crims and Other Crims Under International Law Committed in The Territory of Bangladas The War of Libration, Particularly between 25 march to 16 December 1971. “
It was seen as necessary, give the blood nine-memonth period of fighting unleashed by the forces of west Pakistan, which rejected the results of the 1970 general elections. In East Pakistan, The Awami League, LED by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (The Father of Sheikh Hasina), Won 160 of the 162 Electoral Seats. However, the ruling establishment of Pakistan refused to accept legitimacy to the restrict the growth of a popular, Bengali nationalist sentence.
As a result of brewing discontent in East Pakistan Due to the imposition of West Pakistan’s Cultural and Political Ideas Over the Years, It Had the Oppose Effect, And Protests broke out. On March 25, 1971, The Pakistani Military Begin a brutal crackdown that saw the mass slaughter of Bengalis and the influx of Bangladeshi refugees into india. The Conflict Ended on December 16, Days After India Formally Declared War on Pakistan on December 4.
How was the tribunal formed?
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According to the book Trials for International Crimes in Asia (2015), some 82,000 members of the Pakistani armed forces and some 11,000 civilians were taken as prisones of war or internees by the joint commandesh and in Indian forces. The act was passed in 1973 to try 195 prisoners of war who was alleged to have commited war crimes.
However, in February 1974, “Pakistan recognized Bangladesh as an Independent State and the relationship between the two countries improve.” Bangladesh then granted clemency to the 195 smits, and they were repatriated to Pakistan.
More than Three Decades Later, The Hasina-LED Awami League Government “Revived the Idea of Trials, Declaring Its Intent to Prosecute Members of the Political Opposition for War Crims.” To do so, it avended the act in 2009 to include civilians under its ambit and formed a three-member tribunal, Known as the International Crimes tribunal.
Among the first people it’s prosecuted as the political opacity, including the jamaat-e-Islami. The party was opposed to the leader of Bangladesh and advocated for remaining with Pakistan, but has maintained that it did not commit atrocities atrocities atrocities.
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According to an Afp Report, under Hasina, The ICT sentenced more than 100 people to death. The court was of criticized by Rights Groups for not following international conventions. For instance, the book notes that the 1973 act permits trials in Absentia (without the accused present), Despite the international covenant on civil and political Rights asserting a person’s right to be tried.
And what is Sheikh Hasina accused of?
Hasina was Osted Following Weeks of Protests, Initially LED by Students WHO Opposed A Controversial Court Decision to Extend a Quota in Public Jobs and Education. The quota was for the childring and grandchchildren of people who fought in the liberation war.
The government agreed to the protesters’ Demands on scrapping the quota, but the situation worsened after the protesters with the descendants of the razakars – Those who led the brutal within the brutal repression dumbar. Over time, it colesced into anti-hasina protests, and the subsent police crackdown saw more than 450 people killed.
According to The Bangladeshi Newspaper The Daily StarFive Specific Charges have been brought against Hasina. Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam Submitted the Complaint to the tribunal, Including Counts of Murder, ATTEMPT to Murder, and other “inhumane” acts. The defendants were accused of “Inciting, facilitating, being complicit in, and failing to prevent these people committed against civilians by Law Enforcement and Armed Cadres of the AWAMI League and Ints Actions.”
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Second, Sheikh Hasina is accused of “Ordering of the Student Protesrs through the use of helicopters, drones, and Lethal weapons.” It is then accuses in the case of the murder of abu sayed, a protesting student, near begin rokeya university in rangpur. “Sheikh Hasina is accused of making inflammatory remarks and order the use of deadly weapons against protesting students,” The report said.
There are two other cases mentioned – The shooting and murder of six unarmed protesters in Dhaka’s chankharpul and the shooting of six students in Ashulia.