The Trial Of War Criminals

View with images and charts The Trial of War Criminals: A Case Study of Bangladesh 1. Introduction Crime, although committed against a person, is an offence against law and order of a State and that is why it constitutes a crime against a State and State prosecutors (public prosecutors) pursue a criminal case. War crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity are offences against humankind because it denigrates human dignity. That is why every country has an obligation under international law to try individuals who allegedly perpetrated such crimes, irrespective of the fact whether such crimes were committed in that State or not. Moreover, the trial of the war criminals is a demand of humanity and human civilization. If injustice and war crimes are allowed to go without fair and proper trials, there will remain question regarding the continuity, integrity and humanist elements of human civilization and its existence. The recent upsurge, however, poses more questions than answers. Bangladesh earned its long-cherished independence following a nine-month battle with West Pakistan . The mainstream discourse on this battle is very long on narratives, but short on facts. The narratives are so deeply rooted and embedded in the mainstream political and social discourse that search for facts is sometimes regarded as a crime. Many facts on the battle therefore remain as fictions. One of the conspicuous fictions is “war criminals.”

2. Definition of war crimes Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as: “Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including… willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, …taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.”At the heart of the concept of war crimes is the idea that an individual can be held responsible for the actions of a country or that nation’s soldiers. Genocide, crimes against humanity, mistreatment of civilians or combatants during war can all fall under the category of war crimes. Genocide is the most severe of these crimes.

The body of laws that define a war crime are the Geneva Conventions and the statutes of the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague (ICTY).

3. History of war crimes trial through out the world War Crimes Trials, trials of persons charged with criminal violation of the laws and customs of war and related principles of international law.

The first war crimes trials in modern times were held after World War II (1939-1945) by the victorious Allied nations to prosecute German and Japanese war criminals. In 1993 and 1994 the United Nations (UN) established war crimes tribunals to prosecute those

who committed crimes during the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. In 2002 the UN and the government of Sierra Leone established a jointly administered war crimes tribunal to prosecute atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war. A similar court has been proposed to prosecute war crimes committed in Cambodia during the 1970s.

In July 1998 UN delegates approved a statute creating a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) to try people accused of genocide (systematic extermination of a group), war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. The ICC was designed to replace ad hoc tribunals of limited jurisdiction, such as those created to address the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. The ICC, with headquarters in The Hague, The Netherlands, officially came into being on July 1, 2002.

The most important war crimes trials following World War II were held in Nürnberg, Germany, under the authority of two legal instruments. One, the so-called London Agreement, was signed by representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in London on August 8, 1945; the other, Law No. 10, was issued by the Allied Control Council in Berlin on December 20, 1945.

The London Agreement provided for the establishment of the International Military Tribunal, composed of one judge and one alternate judge from each of the signatory nations, to try war criminals. Under the London Agreement, the crimes charged against defendants fell into three general categories: (1) crimes against peace—that is, crimes involving the planning, initiating, and waging of aggressive war; (2) war crimes—that is, violations of the laws and customs of war as embodied in the conventions adopted at the Hague Conferences (international peace conferences of 1899 and 1904); and (3) crimes against humanity, such as the extermination of racial, ethnic, and religious groups and other large-scale atrocities against civilians.

On October 18, 1945, the chief prosecutors lodged an indictment with the tribunal charging 24 individuals with a variety of crimes and atrocities, including the deliberate instigation of aggressive wars, extermination of racial and religious groups, murder and mistreatment of prisoners of war, and the murder, mistreatment, and deportation to slave labor of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of countries occupied by Germany during the war.

Among the accused were Nationalist Socialist leaders Hermann Göring and Rudolf Hess, diplomat Joachim von Ribbentrop, munitions maker Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, and 18 other military leaders and civilian officials. Seven organizations that formed part of the basic structure of the Nazi government were also charged as criminal. These organizations included the (Schutzstaffel, German for “Defense Corps”), the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, “Secret State Police”), the SA (Sturmabteilung, “Storm Troops”), and the General Staff and High Command of the German armed forces.

The trial began on November 20, 1945. Much of the evidence submitted by the prosecution consisted of original military, diplomatic, and other government documents that fell into the hands of the Allied forces after the collapse of the German government.

Conclusion of the First Trial The judgment of the International Military Tribunal was handed down on September 30October 1, 1946. Among notable features of the decision was the conclusion, in accordance with the London Agreement, that to plan or instigate an aggressive war is a crime under the principles of international law. The tribunal rejected the contention of the defense that such acts had not previously been defined as crimes under international law and that therefore the condemnation of the defendants would violate the principle of justice prohibiting ex post facto punishments. It also rejected the contention of a number of the defendants that they were not legally responsible for their acts because they performed the acts under the orders of superior authority. According to the tribunal, “the true test … is not the existence of the order but whether moral choice (in executing it) was in fact possible.”

With respect to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the tribunal found overwhelming evidence of a systematic rule of violence, brutality, and terrorism by the German government in the territories occupied by its forces. Millions of persons were destroyed in concentration camps, many of which were equipped with gas chambers for the extermination of Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and members of other ethnic or religious groups. Under the slave-labor policy of the German government, at least 5 million persons had been forcibly deported from their homes to Germany. Many of them died because of inhuman treatment. The tribunal also found that atrocities had been committed on a large scale and as a matter of official policy.

Of the seven indicted organizations, the tribunal declared criminal the Leadership Corps of the National Socialist Party, the SS, the SD (Sicherheitsdienst, German for “Security Service”), and the Gestapo.

Twelve defendants were sentenced to death by hanging, seven received prison terms ranging from ten years to life, and three, including the German politician and diplomat Franz von Papen and the president of the German Central Bank Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, were acquitted. Those who had been condemned to death were executed on October 16, 1946. Göring committed suicide in prison a few hours before he was to be executed.

After the conclusion of the first Nürnberg trial, 12 more trials were held under the authority of Control Council Law No. 10, which closely resembled the London Agreement but provided for war crimes trials in each of the four zones of occupied Germany.

About 185 individuals were indicted in the 12 cases. Those indicted included doctors who had conducted medical experiments on concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war,

judges who had committed murder and other crimes under the guise of the judicial process, and industrialists who had participated in the looting of occupied countries and in the forced-labor program. Other persons indicted included SS officials who had headed the concentration camps, administered the Nazi racial laws, and carried out the extermination of Jews and other groups in the eastern territories overrun by the German army; and high military and civilian officials who bore responsibility for these and other criminal acts and policies of the Third Reich. A number of doctors and SS leaders were condemned to death by hanging, and approximately 120 other defendants were given prison sentences of various durations. The tribunals acquitted 35 defendants.

Another war crimes trial was held under international authority in Tokyo. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East was constituted under the authority of a charter promulgated on January 19, 1946, by General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander for the Allied Powers. Many provisions of the charter were adapted from those of the London Agreement.

The Tokyo trial opened on May 3, 1946, and held its final session on November 12, 1948. The conclusions reached by the 11-nation tribunal were generally parallel to those embodied in the judgment given in Nürnberg. Of the 28 defendants named in the indictment, seven were condemned to death by hanging, and all but two of the others were sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial of Japanese general Yamashita Tomoyuki was important in establishing the principle of “command responsibility”—the duty of a military or civilian commander to prevent military personnel from committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. This principle resurfaced more than 50 years later in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević.

Many other trials of alleged war criminals were held by tribunals constituted by the governments of the countries that had been occupied in whole or in part by Germany or Japan during World War II. In addition, military tribunals in the British and American zones of occupation in Germany tried Germans under the laws of war. Numerous trials of Japanese military officers were held also in the Philippines and Australia and by American military courts on Japanese territory. For the most part, these trials were based on alleged violations of the laws and customs of war, and did not involve the crimes against peace and crimes against humanity that had constituted an important part of the Nürnberg proceedings.

Alleged World War II criminals were brought to trial under national laws long after the end of the war. In 1960 the Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, who had been a member of the German SS and an organizer of anti-Semitic activities, was captured as a war criminal in Argentina by Israeli agents (see Anti-Semitism). Taken to Jerusalem, he was tried and condemned the following year and executed in 1962. In 1987 a French court convicted Klaus Barbie, a notorious German Gestapo officer, of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Other trials of French collaborators with Nazi Germany followed in the 1990s. In 1999 Polish-born former police officer Anthony Sawoniuk was convicted under the British War Crimes Act of 1991 of murdering Jews in

Nazi-occupied Domachëvo, now in Belarus, during World War II. Sawoniuk was sentenced to life in prison.

The United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in May 1993 to prosecute individuals responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Originally set up to prosecute crimes resulting from the wars of Yugoslav succession (1991-1995), the tribunal also has addressed crimes occurring in the late 1990s as the result of a separatist movement in Kosovo, a province in southwestern Serbia. The tribunal convenes at The Hague, Netherlands. It consists of 14 judges from different nations and has the power to impose a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

War in the former Yugoslavia began in July 1991 after Slovenia and Croatia—two of six republics in the country—declared their independence. Other republics followed, touching off a conflict that lasted for more than four years. During the war, between 100,000 and 250,000 people were killed and an estimated 200,000 were wounded.

Evidence surfaced that many were the victims of ethnic cleansing—efforts to remove all members of a particular ethnic group from territories occupied by other ethnic groups.

Thousands of people were found in mass graves near Srebrenica, a town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina; Vukovar, a city in eastern Croatia; Prijedor, a city in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There was also evidence of rape and other atrocities.

The separatist movement in Kosovo began in 1991 when ethnic Albanians, who made up more than 90 percent of the province’s population, started to agitate for secession from Serbia. In 1992 Serbia and Montenegro proclaimed themselves the successor state to the former Yugoslavia and took the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). In 1996 a militant separatist group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacks on Serbian police forces in an attempt to gain independence. In early 1998 the Serbs, with the help of FRY army units, began a major crackdown on the separatists. In March 1999, after settlement negotiations proved unsuccessful, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began a campaign of air strikes on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians were displaced from Kosovo and many refugees reported mass killings and other atrocities.

Among the many individuals indicted by the ICTY have been several high-ranking members of the Bosnian Serb leadership, including Radovan Karadžić, former president of the Bosnian Serb Republic, and Serbian army general Ratko Mladic. However, the work of the tribunal has been hampered by lack of cooperation from most of the governments in the region where the conflicts occurred, making it difficult for the tribunal to apprehend the people it indicted. The first trial of the tribunal opened in May 1996. In 1998 the tribunal became the first international court to find an individual accountable for rape as a war crime.

In mid-1999 the tribunal set another first by indicting an active head of state, President Slobodan Milošević of the FRY. The tribunal charged Milošević and four other top

Serbian or Yugoslav officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity based on alleged atrocities in Kosovo. Specifically, the indictment charged the five individuals with conducting a “campaign of terror and violence directed at Kosovo Albanian civilians.” In 2001 the Serbian government, responding to international pressure, extradited Milošević to the war crimes tribunal, despite a ruling by the Yugoslav Constitutional Court to stop his handover.

Later that year the tribunal found a former Bosnian Serb regional commander, General Radislav Krstic, guilty of genocide for his role in the massacre of thousands of Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. The conviction was the first time the tribunal established that genocide was committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An appeals chamber of the tribunal overruled that verdict in 2004, changing Krstic’s conviction to “aiding and abetting genocide.” The 2004 ruling also established beyond doubt that the massacre at Srebrenica was an act of genocide, conclusively laying to rest all claims that no genocide had occurred in Bosnia.

In 2001 the tribunal also convicted three former Bosnian Serb soldiers of systematically raping and torturing Bosniak women and girls, the first time individuals were convicted of rape as a crime against humanity. The court found that Bosnian Serb soldiers used rape as “an instrument of terror” and convicted two of the men of enslavement for forcibly detaining women and girls as sex slaves and loaning or selling them to others for sexual abuse. The trial established sexual enslavement as a war crime.

In late 2001 the tribunal charged Milošević with additional war crimes for his role in the forcible removal of the majority of non-Serbs from parts of Croatia in 1991 and 1992 and from large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. He also faced a charge of genocide in connection with the killing or inhumane confinement of thousands of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats, and other non-Serb civilians during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Milošević’s trial before the tribunal began in February 2002 but was repeatedly delayed because of his poor health. Milošević died in March 2006 before the trial could be completed.

Rwanda Tribunal In November 1994 the Security Council of the United Nations adopted Resolution 955 creating the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The tribunal was authorized to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide and other serious violations of humanitarian law during the 1994 civil war in Rwanda. Another express purpose of the tribunal was to encourage the process of national reconciliation in Rwanda and the maintenance of peace in the region. The tribunal is based in Arusha, Tanzania, and consists of nine trial judges from different nations, elected by the UN General Assembly.

The tribunal shares appellate judges with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The civil war in Rwanda began in 1994, after the death of Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana sparked fighting between the nation’s two chief ethnic groups, the Hutu and Tutsi. Habyarimana was a Hutu. An estimated 500,000 to 1 million people, mostly

Tutsi, were killed during the war. The Hutu-dominated Rwandan army was accused of genocide against the Tutsi.

The first trial started in October 1996. In May 1998 former Rwandan prime minister Jean Kambanda pleaded guilty to multiple charges of genocide and crimes against humanity and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Jean-Paul Akayesu, who was tried and found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, was also sentenced to life imprisonment.

Another man, Omar Serushago, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for similar crimes.

These convictions marked the first instances of an international court finding individuals guilty of the crime of genocide.

After a six-year trial that began in 2002, one of the masterminds of the Rwandan genocide, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, and two other military officers were convicted in December 2008 of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. They were sentenced to life imprisonment. Bagosora was the highest-ranking authority in the Rwandan Defense Ministry at the time the genocide began and personally ordered the murders of leading government officials, including the prime minister and the president of the Constitutional Court.

Sierra Leone Tribunal In 2002 the UN and the Sierra Leone government jointly established a war crimes tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, to try individuals who had committed atrocities during Sierra Leone’s civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2000. Unlike the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which are administered by the UN and composed of UN-appointed judges and prosecutors, the Special Court is jointly administered by the UN and the Sierra Leone government and contains a mix of Sierra Leonean and international judges. The court has jurisdiction over serious violations of international humanitarian law and certain Sierra Leonean criminal laws. To avoid placing an undue burden on the court, its jurisdiction is limited to crimes committed since November 30, 1996.

Sierra Leone’s civil war began in 1991 when a rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), launched a violent campaign against the government. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the ensuing war, in which rebel forces terrorized the country by raping and mutilating thousands of civilians, often hacking off their limbs. Rebels also abducted children and forced them into combat. The RUF was reportedly supported by the government of Charles Taylor in neighboring Liberia. The civil war ended in 2000.

In 2003 the Special Court issued its first indictments. The court charged seven people, including rebel leader Foday Sankoh and Internal Affairs Minister Sam Hinga Norman, with murder, rape, extermination, sexual slavery, conscription of children into an armed force, and other crimes. Sankoh died in July 2003 while in UN custody. The same year Taylor lost power in Liberia and went into exile in Nigeria. In 2006 Nigeria deported Taylor to The Hague to face charges before the Special Court. The charges included murder, sexual violence, using children as soldiers, enslavement, and terrorizing the civilian population of Sierra Leone. The prosecution alleged that Taylor had supplied the

RUF with training, money, arms, and ammunition with the goal of sharing power over Sierra Leone and gaining access to its diamond trade. Taylor’s trial began in June 2007, but he refused to attend the proceedings.

The NĂźrnberg and other war crimes trials were a notable step in the evolution of international penal law. The standing of the trials suffered sharply, however, because the proceedings were carried out under auspices of victorious powers and the charges were brought only against the nationals of vanquished Germany and Japan. Nevertheless, the principles applied in the NĂźrnberg and Tokyo trials helped to strengthen international law and the judicial mechanisms for its enforcement. Also, the United Nations has ratified the general principles of the trials.

The use of international war crimes tribunals in the former Yugoslavia, in Rwanda, and in Sierra Leone extends the principles that were the basis of the other war crimes trials to the treatment of civilians in conflicts involving only one nation. Recent war crimes trials have also established the principle that even the victors in a violent conflict are subject to criminal prosecution 4. Atrocities occurred in Bangladesh, 1971 Beginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 and continuing throughout the Bangladesh Liberation War, there were widespread violations of human rights in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) perpetrated by the Pakistan Army with support from local political and religious militias. Time reported a high U.S. official as saying "It is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland." Genocide is the term that is used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh. Apart from that all international publications on genocide and human rights abuses classify the atrocities of 1971 as an act of genocide by West Pakistan. On 16 December 2002, the George Washington University's National Security Archive published a collection of declassified documents, consisting mostly of communications between US embassy officials and USIS centers in Dhaka and India, and officials in Washington DC. These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms selective genocide and genocide (see The Blood Telegram) to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. The complete chronology of events as reported to Nixon administration can be found on Department of State website. Telegrams from Nixon archives released by United States Department of State detail some of the atrocities.

Bangladeshi authorities claim that 3 million people were killed, while the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, an official Pakistan Government investigation, put the figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties. The international media and reference books in English have also published figures which vary greatly from 200,000 to 3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole. A further eight to ten million people fled the country to seek safety in India.

A large section of the intellectual community of Bangladesh were murdered, mostly by the Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces, at the instruction of the Pakistani Army. There are many mass graves in Bangladesh, and more are continually being discovered (such as one in an old well near a mosque in Dhaka, located in the non-Bengali region of the city, which was discovered in August 1999). The first night of war on Bengalis, which is

documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dhaka to the United States State Department, saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dhaka University and other civilians. Numerous women were tortured, raped and killed during the war. The exact numbers are not known and are a subject of debate. Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war-babies. The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment. Most of the girls were captured from Dhaka University and private homes. There are reports of sectarian violence not only perpetrated and encouraged by the Pakistani army, but also by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis.

Casualties The number of civilians that died in the Bangladesh War is not accurately known. There is a great disparity in the casualty figures put forth by Pakistan on one hand (25,000, as reported in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission) and India and Bangladesh on the otherhand. (From 1972 to 1975 the first post-war prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, claimed on several occasions that at least three million died). The international media and reference books in English have also have published figures which vary greatly: varying from 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and 200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole. It is believed in certain quarters that the figure of three million has its origins in comments made by Yahya Khan to the journalist Robert Payne on 22 February 1971: "Kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hands."

The Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State held a two-day conference in late June 2005 on U.S. policy in South Asia between 1961 and 1972. The State Department invited international scholars to express their views on declassified documents recently published in the Foreign Relations of the United States series.

According to a newspaper report published in both Pakistani and Bangladeshi newspapers, Bangladeshi speakers at the conference stated that the official Bangladeshi figure of civilian deaths was close to 300,000, which was wrongly translated from Bengali into English as three million. Ambassador Shamsher M. Chowdhury acknowledged that Bangladesh alone cannot correct this mistake and suggested Pakistan and Bangladesh should form a joint commission to investigate the 1971 disaster and prepare a report.[33][34] In October 1997 R. J. Rummel published a book, which is available on the web, titled Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900. In Chapter 8, Statistics Of Pakistan's Democide - Estimates, Calculations, And Sources, he states: Rummel goes on to collate what he considers the most credible estimates published by others into what he calls democide. He writes that "Consolidating both ranges, I give a final estimate of Pakistan's democide to be 300,000 to 3,000,000, or a prudent 1,500,000."

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was a planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in erstwhile East Pakistan in March 1971. Ordered by the government in West Pakistan, this was seen as the sequel to Operation Blitz which had been launched in November 1970.

The original plan envisioned taking control of the major cities on 26 March 1971, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month. The prolonged Bengali resistance was not anticipated by Pakistani planners. The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid May. The operation also began the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. This systematic killings only served to enrage the Bengalis which ultimately resulted in the secession of East Pakistan later in the same year.

Killing of intellectuals During the war, the Pakistan Army and its local collaborators carried out a systematic execution of the leading Bengali intellectuals. A number of professors from Dhaka University were killed during the first few days of the war. However, the most extreme cases of targeted killing of intellectuals took place during the last few days of the war. Professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, writers were rounded up by Pakistan Army and the Razakar militia in Dhaka, blindfolded, taken to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city to be executed en masse in the killing fields, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur. Allegedly, the Pakistani Army and its paramilitary arm, the Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces created a list of doctors, teachers, poets, and scholars. Some sources also allege the role of the CIA in devising the plan.

On 14 December 1971, only two days before surrendering to the Indian military and the Mukhti Bahini forces, the Pakistani army with the assistance of local collaborators systematically executed an estimated 991 teachers, 13 journalists, 49 physicians, 42 lawyers, and 16 writers, artists and engineers. Even after the official ending of the war on 16 December there were reports of firing from the armed Pakistani soldiers or their collaborators. In one such incident, notable film-maker Jahir Raihan was killed on January 30, 1972 in Mirpur allegedly by the armed Beharis. In memory of the persons killed, December 14 is mourned in Bangladesh as Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibosh ("Day of the Martyred Intellectuals").

Several noted intellectuals who were killed from the time period of 25 March to 16 December, 1971 in different parts of the country include Dhaka University professors Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev (Philosophy), Dr. Munier Chowdhury (Bengali Literature), Dr. Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (Bengali Literature), Dr. Anwar Pasha (Bengali Literature), Dr M Abul Khair (History), Dr. Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta (English Literature), Humayun Kabir (English Literature), Rashidul Hasan (English Literature) and Saidul Hassan (Physics), as well Dr. Hobibur Rahman (Professor of Mathematics at Rajshahi University), Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee (Cardiologist), Dr. Alim Chowdhury (Ophthalmologist), Shahidullah Kaiser (Journalist), Nizamuddin Ahmed (Journalist), Selina Parvin (Journalist), Altaf Mahmud (Lyricist and musician), Dhirendranath Datta (Politician) and RP Saha (Philanthropist).

Violence against women

Numerous women were tortured, raped and killed during the war. Again, exact numbers are not known and are a subject of debate. Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war-babies. The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment. Most of the girls were captured from Dhaka University and private homes.

Among other sources, Susan Brownmiller refers to an even higher number of over 400,000. Pakistani sources claim the number is much lower, though having not completely denied rape incidents. Brownmiller quotes: Khadiga, thirteen years old, was interviewed by a photojournalist in Dacca. She was walking to school with four other girls when they were kidnapped by a gang of Pakistani soldiers. All five were put in a military brothel in Mohammedpur and held captive for six months until the end of the war.

Another work that has included direct experiences from the women raped is Ami Birangona Bolchhi ("I, the heroine, speak") by Nilima Ibrahim. The work includes in its name from the word Birangona (Heroine), given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after the war, to the raped and tortured women during the war. This was a conscious effort to alleviate any social stigma the women might face in the society. How successful this effort was is doubtful, though. In October 2005 Sarmila Bose (a Harvard-educated Bengali Indian academic related to the Indian Freedom Struggle leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose), published a paper suggesting that the casualties and rape allegations in the war have been greatly exaggerated for political purposes. This work has been criticised in Bangladesh and her research methods have been attacked by expatriate Bengalis as shoddy and biased because of the work's heavy reliance on Pakistani sources and for discrediting victims' testimonies based on their lack of formal education.

Violence against minorities The minorities of Bangladesh, especially the Hindus, were specific targets of the Pakistan army. There was widespread killing of Hindu males, and rapes of women. More than 60% of the Bengali refugees that had fled to India were Hindus. It is not exactly known what percentage of the people killed by the Pakistan army were Hindus, but it is safe to say it was disproportionately high. This widespread violence against Hindus was motivated by a policy to purge East Pakistan of what was seen as Hindu and Indian influences. The West Pakistani rulers identified the Bengali culture with Hindu and Indian culture, and thought that the eradication of Hindus would remove such influences from the majority Muslims in East Pakistan.

Violence against Biharis The period also saw a wave of sectarian violence carried out by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis, in the period of December 1970 — March 1971, when Biharis were subject to systematic persecution. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 50,000 Biharis were killed in this period, and is believed by some that both Mujibur and Ziaur Rahman, and actively supported by the Indian military, intentionally incited and then failed to stop the violence against the Biharis.

After the defeat of the Pakistani forces, Bangladeshi nationalist forces, most notoriously the Kader Bahini militia led by Abdul Kader Siddique, exacted revenge on those who had been viewed as 'collaborators' of the Pakistani forces. In particular, Biharis, some of

whom had formed Razakars and Al Shams Islamist militias in support of the Pakistani Army, were subjected to massive reprisal attacks. A large numbers of Biharis were killed

by Mukti Bahini soldiers, while hundreds of thousands were placed in refugee camps where they languished for many years. Fearing continued persecution in the new state of Bangladesh, they sought refuge in Pakistan, however the Pakistani government was reluctant to recognize their citizenship, making them effectively a stateless people.

5. Genocide debate After the minimum 20 countries became parties to the Genocide Convention, it came into force as international law on 12 January 1951. At that time however, only two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were parties to the treaty, and it was not until after the last of the last five permanent members ratified the treaty in 1988, and the Cold War came to an end, that the international law on the crime of genocide began to be enforced. As such, the allegation that genocide took place during the Bangladesh War of 1971 was never investigated by an international tribunal set up under the auspices of the United Nations.

Although both Pakistan and its primary ally USA have denied genocide allegations, the word ‘genocide’ was and is used frequently amongst observers and scholars of the events that transpired during the 1971 war. Within Bangladesh, ‘genocide’ is the term used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper. It is also used in some publications outside the subcontinent for example The Guinness Book of Records lists the Bengali atrocities as one of the top 5 genocides in the 20th century.

On 16 December 2002, the George Washington University’s National Security Archives published a collection of declassified documents, mostly consisting of communications between US officials working in embassies and USIS centers in Dhaka and in India, and officials in Washington DC. These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms ‘selective genocide’ and ‘genocide’ (Blood telegram) to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. They also show that President Nixon, advised by Henry Kissinger, decided to downplay this secret internal advise, because he wanted to protect the interests of Pakistan as he was apprehensive of India's friendship with the USSR, and he was seeking a closer relationship with China, who supported Pakistan.

In his book The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens elaborates on what he saw as the efforts of Henry Kissinger to subvert the aspirations of independence on the part of the Bengalis. Hitchens not only claims that the term genocide is appropriate to describe the results of the struggle, but also points to the efforts of Henry Kissinger in undermining others who condemned the then ongoing atrocities as being a genocide.

6. Who were war criminals After beginning the Bangladesh liberation war, Pakistani military forces required military support who wants still to live with Pakistan as well as non-bangali muhajirs in order to abolish the independence fighters of Bangladesh.

There were three types of war criminals: a) Razakars: Refugees who were came from others parts of India, during separation of India and Pakistan, and settled in East Pakistan

b) Al-badar: Bengali muslim student from colleges, universities and madrasah ,who were loyal to jamat-e-islami c) Al-shams: Bengali muslim students, teachers, and supporters of Islamic parties other than jamat-e-islami.these smaller parties included in Nejam-e-islami and various functions of Muslim league 7. List of Major war criminals War Crimes Facts Finding Committee (WCFFC), a research organization, yesterday unveiled a list of 1,597 war criminals responsible for the mass killings, rapes and other atrocities during the Liberation War. Of those on the list, 369 are members of Pakistan military, 1,150 are their local collaborators including members of Razakar and Al Badr [forces formed to aid the occupation army] and Peace Committee, and 78 are Biharis.

The fact-finding committee said this is not the final list, and they would soon come up with another one with more evidence and documents.

The local collaborators according to the list who played major role are as follows: * Maulana Dawood * Golam Azam * Abdul Mannan * Matiur Rahman Nizami, head of Chhatra Sangha, the students’ organization of Jamat-eIslami * Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid - president of Al-Badr * Delwar Hossain Saidi * Moinuddin Chowdhury * Anwar Zahid * Fozlul Quader Chowdhury & Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury * Abbas Ali Khan * Mohammad Kamaruzzaman * Abdul Alim * Abdul Kader Mollah * ASM Solaiman * Maulana Abdus Sobhan * Maulana AKM Yousuf * Moulana SM Fazlul Karim * Mohammad Ayen ud Din * ABM Khalek Majumder * Ashrafuzzaman Khan * Dr. Syed Sazzad Hossain 8. The evidences against those accused Abbas Ali Khan ABBAS ALl KHAN currently holds the second-highest position in the Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest and most powerful fundamentalist political party in Bangladesh. Until Golam Azam was officially declared to be the Ameer (or Leader) of the party, Khan acted as the

chief.

Khan's role in 1971 was against the independence of Bangladesh, and against the spirit of Bangalee nationalism. At the time he was the deputy chief of Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami.

Khan gave leadership to para-military forces such as the Razakars, Al-Badrs and AlShams, all formed by the Jamaat and like-minded parties in cooperation with the Pakistan army.

The principal aim behind formation of these three forces was to provide battle-field support to the military, gather intelligence about local resistance groups, identify and eliminate Bangalee nationalist elements, and carry out raids on villages involving mass killings, rape, arson and lootings. The Pakistan army enjoyed direct assistance from these para-military forces in its campaign of genocide, which resulted in the death of three million unarmed people of Bangladesh.

Abbas Ali Khan abetted and encouraged the Pakistan army's genocide through speeches at countless rallies, statements to and articles in newspapers etc. Khan also played a leading role in the central "Peace Committee", which was set up to directly and indirectly assist the Pakistan army's campaign in Bangladesh. The "Peace Committee" formed branches all over the country, manned by local leaders of Jamaat and camp-followers.

These committees acted as the political wing of the three para-military forces and played an active role in assisting Pakistan army's attempt to brutally suppress the Bangalee people's struggle for freedom in 1971.

Members of the Razakar force under Khan's leadership were given powers equal to those of the regular armed forces. The Razakars, after a short course of training, carried out widespread killings, rapes and looting in villages.

According to reports in the press during 1971, Khan became a minister in the cabinet of Quisling governor M A Malek, after taking part in a series of stage-managed parliamentary by-elections. The seats put up for by-elections were all held by members of the Awami League, the nationalist party which won a landslide victory in the 1970 general elections. The seats were declared vacant by the Pakistan military junta after the Awami League was banned on Mar 26, 1971.

Khan assumed the office of the minister for education in Malek's puppet government on Sept 17, 1971. Golam Azam, one of the principal war criminals of 1971, congratulated this cabinet and said, "I hope this cabinet will be able to do more than what the 'Peace Committees' have been able to do so far" On page 47 of the same book of compilations, Raushan quotes Azam as saying at a reception given by Dhaka city branch of the Jamaat in Hotel Empire that, "Jamaat-e-Islami considers Pakistan and Islam one and the same.

So, Jamaat members would not consider life worth living if there was no Pakistan. That's why Jamaat is working to bring back confidence and sense of security among the people by working through "Peace Committees", by sending leaders to join Razakar and Al-Badr forces, and through other means. With this aim in mind, Jamaat workers have compelled two senior leaders to become ministers".

On Nov 25, Abbas Ali Khan said in a statement, "I have no doubt that the Indian army has began a shameless aggression in several fronts under the guise of the Mukti Bahini with the despicable aim of swallowing East Pakistan (The Mukti Bahini or liberation army, formed by Bangalee nationalist civilians and Bangalee members of the Pakistan army who rebelled after the military crackdown began on the night of Mar 25, 1971). Our armed forces alone cannot carry on this war. It is the duty of every citizen to strengthen the hands of our soldiers and help save the dignity of our dear Pakistan" In the same statement, with an oblique reference to Bangalee intellectuals and freedom fighters, he called on people to "stay alert against people engaged in anti-state and destructive activities. Help the armed forces and the 'Peace Committees' to eliminate these elements".

On Dec 10, just four days before the killings of intellectuals reached its peak, he said in another speech, "In the Battle of Badr, only 313 Muslim troops faced over 1,000 Kuraish, and were victorious. Today, 130 million people (the then population of West Pakistan and Bangladesh combined) are fully prepared to defend this sacred land. Our enemies are the rumour-mongers, the agent-provocateurs and those who propagate in favour of India or that imaginary country Bangladesh. You have to beware of these enemies. Smash their poisonous fangs at the first opportunity. Join hands with our Razakar, Al-Badr and AlShams forces and dedicate yourself to the task of saving the country" (ibid, Raushan).

Governor Malek formed several sub-committees in December to strengthen the war effort. Khan was put in charge of the information sub-committee, along with A S M. Solaiman.

Khan continued to propagate against Bangladesh even after 1971. In 1980, while addressing his first post- 1971 press conference, Khan showed no remorse for what he or his party had done. Instead, he said, "We did the right thing in 1971".Even today, Khan continues to conspire against the independence of Bangladesh and against the Bangalee national identity of the people. He continues his efforts to turn Bangladesh into a second Pakistan.

Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami MAULANA MATIUR RAHMAN NIZAMI of Pabna district in the north-west of Bangladesh, is currently the secretary general and leader of the parliamentary party of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Nizami carried out a wide range of activities against the war of independence in 1971. At the time he was president of Jamaat's youth front, the Islami Chattra Sangha (ICS, or Islamic Student's Organisation). Under his direct supervision, and leadership, the Al-Badr force was set-up to eliminate freedom fighters. Nizami was the commander-in-chief of

the

Al-Badrs.

The principal aim of the Al-Badr, as a para-military force auxiliary to the Pakistan army, was to turn the Bangalee people into a populace, which would believe in Pakistan and the Islamic philosophy of life from a cultural and political viewpoint.

Leaders of the Al-Badr drew-up the blue-print for the murder of hundreds of Bangalee intellectuals across the country. On their orders, hundreds of such prominent men and women of letter and crafts were murdered throughout Bangladesh including Dhaka.

Horrifying tales of these killings by the Al-Badr under Nizami' s command have been published in many newspapers and journals at home and abroad.

Nizami exhorted his followers through speeches as well as articles in newspapers. In one such article in the party mouth-piece daily Sangram, he wrote, "The day is not far away when the young men of Al-Badr, side by side with the armed forces, will defeat the Hindu force (enemies) and raise the victorious banner of Islam all over the world, after the destroying the existence of India" (source: Daily Sangram,Nov. 14, 1971).

On April 12, 1971, Nizami joined Azam and other leading collaborators such as Khan A Sabur etc., to lead a procession in Dhaka to declare support for Pakistan. The procession, under the banner of the "Peace Committee", ended with a special prayer for the survival of Pakistan (Daily Sangram, April 13, 1971).

In Jessore south-west of Dhaka, Nizami addressed para-military troops at the district headquarters of the Razakar force, and said, "In this hour of national crisis, it is the duty of every Razakar to carry out his national duty to eliminate those who are engaged in war against Pakistan and Islam" (Daily Sangram, Sept 15, 1971).

People in Nizami's home district of Pabna have brought allegations of direct and indirect involvement in killings, rape, arson, looting etc.

One such person is Aminul Islam Dablu of Brishlika village under the Bera police station.Dablu told the Commission that his father M Sohrab Ali was killed on the orders of Nizami. Dablu further said other people of the area, including Profulla Pramanik, Bhadu Pramanik, Manu Pramanik and Shashthi Pramanik were killed on Nizami' s orders. He said there were several eyewitnesses to those killings.

Abdul Quddus, a freedom fighter from Madhabpur village in Pabna, once spent two weeks in an Al-Badr camp after being arrested. He witnessed plans being discussed and drawn-up by the Al-Badr men under supervision of Nizami, to carry out killings, arson, rape etc.

On Nov 26, a Razakar commander named Sattar guided Pakistani troops to the Dhulaupara village where 30 freedom fighters were subsequently killed. According to Quddus, Sattar carried out his activities under Nizami's orders.

Quddus told the Commission he was able to attend a secret gathering of Al-Badr, which was also attended by Nizami who gave instructions about elimination of freedom fighters. In that meeting, houses of Awami League supporters and possible bases and safe-houses being used by freedom fighters were identified. Quddus said, Nizami gave orders to finish off Awami League supporters and destroy bases of the freedom fighters.

The day after the meeting, Al-Badr forces in cooperation with Razakars, surrounded the village of Brishlika and burnt it to the ground. Quddus said Nizami himself bayoneted to death one Bateswar Shaha in Madhabpur village, situated under Sathia PS, which is now part of the parliamentary constituency where Nizami won a seat in 1991 with a slender majority.

Similar allegations against Nizami was brought by M Shahjahan Ali of Madhabpur village. Ali was captured by Razakars along with several other freedom fighters. The Razakars then proceeded to torture the prisoners with bayonets, finally using long knives to slit their throats. Twelve freedom fighters were slaughtered in that manner, but Ali miraculously survived, although he has a deep scar along his throat and is permanently paralysed.

Ali said one prisoner was burnt alive after being doused with petrol. He said all these killings of prisoners were carried out on Nizami's order.

Muhammad Kamruzzaman MUHAMMAD KAMRUZZAMAN is currently the Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh. He is the former executive editor of the party mouthpiece Daily Sangram, and presently editor of the weekly Sonar Bangla.

Information about his anti-liberation activities and complicity in war crimes in 1971 have been gathered from newspapers of the time, authoritative books on the history of the war and from testimony of eyewitnesses and victims. In 1971, Kamruzzaman was the leader of the Islami Chattra Sangha in the district of Mymensingh, and he was the principal organiser of the Al-Badr force, which was first formed in the nearby area of Jamalpur.

An article in the Daily Sangram on August 16, 1971, said, "A rally and symposium were organised in Mymensingh by the Al-Badr to celebrate the 25th independence day of Pakistan. The chief organiser of the Al-Badr, Muhammad Kamruzzaman presided over the symposium held at the local Muslim Institute. According to a wire service report, speakers at the symposium issued strong warnings about those involved in the conspiracy to destroy the country" In the research-based historical book, Killers and Collaborators of 1971: An Account of Their Whereabouts, compiled by the Centre for the Development of the Spirit of the Liberation War, more light is thrown on the role of Kamruzzaman in 1971: "As soon as Al-Badr was formed in Jamalpur as a volunteers' organisation, the Jamaat leadership realised that their student wing could be turned into an armed force, and used as a special

squad to carry out killings of intellectuals, in addition to carrying out general war duties.

First, activists of the Islami Chattra Sangha in the entire district of Mymensingh were organised as the Al-Badr and given weapons training. Kamruzzaman was in charge of this organisational work. Within a month, Kamruzzaman incorporated all the cadres of the ICS into the Al-Badr" (page 111- 112).

One Fazlul Huq of Sherpur area, father of a martyr, told the Commission that sometime in June or July in 1971, his son Badiuzzaman was taken away by an 11-member Al-Badr squad led by Kamruzzaman. Huq said his son was taken to the Pakistan army camp in nearby Ahmednagar and murdered. After independence, the late Badiuzzaman's brother Hasanuzzaman filed a case at the Nalitabari police station, with Kamruzzaman as the principal among the 18 accused in the murder of Badiuzzaman.

In the same Sherpur area, one Shahjahan Talukdar told the Commission that cadres of the Al-Badr kidnapped his cousin Golam Mostafa on August 24, 1971, in broad daylight.

Mostafa was then taken to the local Al-Badr camp, which was set up in a house on Surendra Mohan Road of Sherpur town. After brutally torturing Mostafa at the camp, AlBadr forcibly took him to the nearby Sherry Bridge and shot him dead. Kamruzzaman was known to have ordered the killing. Many others in Sherpur confirmed that the killing of Golam Mostafa was carried out on Kamruzzaman's direct order.

Allegations of torture at the Al-Badr camp in Sherpur were also made by Tapas Shaha, a former student leader of the area. He said men, women and youth of the area used to be taken forcibly to the camp where Al-Badr cadres under direct supervision of Kamruzzaman used to carry out gruesome acts of torture.

For instance, one Majid, at the time an elected office-bearer of the town council, was taken to the camp and kept inside a darkened hole for a whole day.

In the middle of May, the then head of the Department of Islamic History and Culture at Sherpur College, Syed Abdul Hannan was paraded through the streets of the town, totally naked, with his head shaven and a "garland" of shoes around his neck. Kamruzzaman and his cohorts dragged the professor around the town in mid-day, beating him with leather whips as he was dragged, Tapas Shaha told the Commission.

Ziaul Huq, a former town leader of the Awami League said, he was taken by three AlBadr men on August 22 at around 5pm. He was then kept at the camp for two days, in the darkened hole. He said, the camp or torture centre was being run by Kamruzzaman. He was released after being told to leave the area, otherwise he was told he would be killed, Huq told the Commission.

Emdadul Huq Hira, a former freedom fighter and currently a leader of the Jatiya Party, said his home was burnt down by Pakistani troops who were being guided by Kamruzzaman. He told the Commission that the troops set up five bunkers in the premises of his home, and used a litchi tree in the courtyard to tie up prisoners before shooting them dead.

Another eyewitness Musfiquzzaman, currently a teacher at the Haji Jal Mamud College in Sherpur, said that homes and business establishments at Tin Ani Bazar were looted in the middle of August in the presence of and under the leadership of Kamruzzaman.

One eyewitness, who worked as a driver of trucks, which were used to carry troops as well as prisoners and dead bodies said, that Kamruzzaman guided Pakistani troops to the house of a freedom fighter identified only as Honta. The troops burned the house down, the driver said.

There were also allegations that Kamruzzaman organised and led robbery gangs in the area.

Abdul Alim A former minister in the cabinet of late president Lt. Gen. Ziaur Rahman (1977-81), ABDUL ALIM served as the chairman of the "Peace Committee" in the district of Joypurhat in the north-west of the country during 1971. Information about his war crimes and anti-liberation activities have been gathered from newspapers of the period, historical books and from testimony given by those who suffered.

Immediately after independence, mass-circulation daily Dainik Bangla published a report on Jan. 12, 1971, under the headline "Brutality of the aggressors have put to shade even the killers of .the Middle Ages". The report said that leader of the Joypurhat "Peace Committee" Abdul Alim of the Muslim League party was once asked, soon after Pakistan president Gen. Yahya Khan had declared an "amnesty" for those refugees who had crossed into India, if members of the Hindu community would face any problem returning to their homes. "In reply he (Alim) said, 'There is no amnesty for them, the moment they return they'll be handed over to the armed forces'. That was an unbelievable comment. If an educated person could harbour such thoughts, then it is fairly easy to gauge what sort of attitude the lesser-educated or illiterate collaborators had towards members of the religious minority community. In effect, those handful of Hindus who came back after Yahya's cosmetic amnesty, never the saw the light of day again".

Another piece of evidence against Alim is given on page 38- 39 of the compilation by the Centre for the Development of the Spirit of the Liberation War. It says, "Abdul Alim himself carried out execution of Bangalees by lining them up in rows and then shooting them. Besides, there are many allegations of Alim killing Bangalees by bayonet charges".

The same compilation titled Killers and Collaborators of 1971: An Account of Their Whereabouts, carried a photograph from a newspaper of the period, which showed a beaming Alim standing beside one Major Afzal of the Pakistan army. Sitting on the ground were a number of freedom fighters, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs. "These freedom fighters were paraded through the town and later shot dead.

After liberation, the people of Joypurhat caught Alim and put him in a cage an as exhibit", the caption in the book explained.

Dr Kazi Nazrul Islam of Joypurhat, son of late Dr Abul Kashem, told the Commission that on July 24, 1971, Razakar forces and Pakistani troops raided his father's home and took the latter away. This was done on the orders of Abdul Alim, he said.After torturing Kashem throughout the night, the Razakars took him to Alim at the "Peace Committee" office. Kashem was then sent to Joypurhat police station, and finally to Pakistan army camp at nearby Khanjanpur. On July 26, Kashem was murdered on the order of Alim.

Kashem's decomposed body was discovered in a sugarcane field a month later.

The killing of Abul Kashem on the orders of Abdul Alim was confirmed by many others in the area, including elected village council chairman of Bomboo Union Molla Shamsul Alam.

Molla Shamsul Alam, an eyewitness to the activities of Alim, narrated the tale of one freedom fighter, Fazlu who was captured by Pakistani troops after a fire-fight. He said the Pakistanis took Fazlu and two other prisoners to Abdul Alim at the C O Colony hall room. Outside, Alim stood on truck and said to supporters gathered there, "Fazlu's father is a friend of mine. I had repeatedly asked him to dissuade his son from this path, but he didn't. Today he has to be to given his punishment, and that is death. I ask you all to find out those who still talk of Joy Bangla (Victory to Bengal, war-cry of the freedom fighters), in your neighborhoods and beat them to death".

Fazlu and others were then taken to Alim' s house where they were put through inhuman torture. Later they were taken to the killing grounds in Khanjanpur and murdered.

Molla Shamsul Alam also alleged in his testimony that Alim carried out killings of poor members of the Garoal community. In April 1971, Pakistani troops arrested 26 Garoals and took them to Alim's house. They were kept there for three days, taken to Khanjanpur and killed.

Alam further said that Alim used his house as a recruitment camp for Razakars during 1971.

Recruitment of Razakars was one of Alim's duties.

Alam said that in April, Pakistani troops surrounded the Hindu area of Koroikadipur village in Joypurhat and massacred 165 men and women. This raid was carried out on the orders of Alim and Jamaat leader Abbas Ali Khan, he said.

In addition to allegations of murder and torture, there are accusations of rape against Alim. Shamsul Huq, an elected village council chairman, said that Alim always justified acts of murder, rape etc., by Pakistani troops and Razakars. According to Huq, Alim used to say "troops do these sort of things at war time. This is not a fault. We have to accept it in the interest of the country".

Shamsul Alam, an associate professor at Joypurhat College, said that Alim and his cohorts once paraded 26 captured freedom fighters around town on trucks before the prisoners were put to death. Before killing them, Alim put the prisoners on display at Joypurhat College playing field, where he told the students, "You can all understand the fate of these prisoners. They are all going to die. If you students join the Mukti Bahini, then your fate will be the same".

Idris Ali said he entered his home-town Joypurhat on Dec. 5 along with other freedom fighters. They captured the "Peace Committee" headquarters the same day, and discovered various documents, including lists of intellectuals earmarked for elimination.

Among the documents was minutes of a meeting held on Dec. 4 and presided over by Abbas Ali Khan, then a minister in the East Pakistan cabinet of Quisling Governor Malek. The minutes bore Alim's signature.

There were many other eyewitness reports by local inhabitants of the killings, torture and repression carried out in the area by Alim.

Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi MAULANA DELWAR HOSSAIN SAYEEDI is currently a member of the Jamaat-eIslami's Majlish-e-Shura or central committee, During 1971, Sayeedi took active part in the organisation of Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces in his own area of Pirojpur in the south of the country, in order to assist the Pakistan army.

Sayeedi was not associated with any political party in 1971, but conducted his activities in his individual capacity as a 'maulana' or Islamic scholar. There are allegations that he actively helped the Pakistani forces in their campaign of killings, lootings, rape, arson etc., by forming local para-military forces. During the war, he along with four associates formed an organisation called "Fund of the Five". The principal aim of the organisation was to loot and take over property of freedom fighters and Bangalee Hindus. He used to sell these looted property and conduct a profitable business from the sales proceedings.

Allegations against Sayeedi were made by Mizan, a former Freedom fighter. "Sayeedi gave direct assistance and encouragement to Pakistani forces during the Liberation War. He personally looted houses of Hindu families at Parer Hat area in Pirojpur, citing religious strictures as justification of the repression on the Hindus. He broke into the shop of a Hindu trader named Madan and carried all the goods off home. Sayeedi set up shops by the ferry port near Parer Hat with goods looted from shops at Shaheb Bazar market.

People of this area still have not forgotten Sayeedi's treachery".

Abdur Razzak Khan, an advocate in Pirojpur, told the Commission that Sayeedi forcibly took over the home of a local Hindu, Bipod Shaha, and continued to live there during the whole period, He said Sayeedi used to draw-up lists of suspected freedom fighters in the area and supply the names to the Pakistan army camped nearby. Khan also claimed that Sayeedi supplied young girls, abducted from nearby village homes, to the Pakistani camps. Sayeedi acted as guide to the Pakistani forces in their destructive and murderous

raid on Parer Hat ferry port. According to Khan, Sayeedi also forced young men of the area to join the AI-Badr force, and any refusal usually led to the killing of the objector.

Similar allegations were brought against Sayeedi by Ali Haider, a member of the Supreme Court Bar and currently a leader of the central committee of the left-leaning Ganotontri (Democratic) Party. He told the Commission that the brother and other relatives of one Himangshu Babu were killed with the direct assistance of Sayeedi. He also said that Ganopati Halder, an accomplished student known in the area for his academic acumen, was also killed by Sayeedi.

Haider said Sayeedi was involved in the killings of many social workers, intellectuals and student leaders of the area. Mid-ranking civil servants posted in the area, who were suspected of sympathising with the cause of Bangladesh, were also picked out to be murdered. One Bhaguathi, accused of supplying information to the freedom fighters by Sayeedi, was tied to the back of a motorcycle and dragged for five miles before being killed, he said.

A former elected village council chairman of the area, M Alauddin Khan, told the Commission that mass killings of intellectuals and students took place in the area at the instigation, encouragement and direction of Sayeedi. He brought further accusations of lootings, particularly of property of local Hindus, against Sayeedi.

According to Beni Madhab Shaha, Sayeedi and his associates kidnapped and killed Abdul Aziz, a non-commissioned officer in the para-military East Pakistan Rifles (the force had joined the freedom war enmasse as soon as Pakistan army operations began on Mar 25). Sayeedi and his men also kidnapped and killed others, including Krishna Kanta Shaha, Bani Kanta Sikdar, Tarani Kanta Sikdar, Beni Madhab Shaha said.

Sayeedi and his cohorts carried out repression on the daughters of Hari Sadhu and Bipod Shaha, she said. Sayeedi, after looting the home of the Talukdars, a locally-influential Hindu land-owning family, kidnapped 25 women from the premises and sent them to the Pakistan army camp.

There are allegations that Sayeedi was involved in the killing of sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Faizur Rahman, father of Humayun Ahmed, a renowned writer and professor of chemistry at the University of Dhaka. The allegations were brought by Sufia Haider and Ali Haider Khan, daughter and son-in-law respectively of Ahmed. They said Pakistani troops killed Faizur Rahman with the assistance of Sayeedi and his associates, who then proceeded to loot the property of the author's father.

Maulana Abdul Mannan MAULANA ABDUL MANNAN, the president of the Jamiat-e- Mudarressin, an organisation of teachers of madrasas (special schools for Islamic learning from primary level to Grade 12) and owner of the daily Inquilab, the country's second-highest

circulated newspaper, was one of the key collaborators of the Pakistani army during the 1971 War of Liberation.

A minister under General Ziaur Rahman after 1976 and then in the cabinet of president H M Ershad, Mannan was also associated with the killings of the intellectuals. He hails from the Devipur village of Faridganj thana under Chandpur district. Mannan's area of anti-liberation activity ranged from Faridganj area in the eastern district of Comilla to Dhaka. In 1971, he was one of the top leaders of the so-called Peace and Welfare Council that was set up to aid and abet the Pakistani occupation forces.

During the war, Maulana Mannan issued several statements in favour of the mass murders being committed by the Pakistani forces. In a statement published in newspapers on 27 April 1971, he said: "Patriotic people of East Pakistan have now come forward with crusading zeal to uproot the armed intruders and the secessionists. With the active support of the people, our brave armed forces have taken control of all the places."

On September 27, 1971 Maulana Mannan, then president of the Madrasah Teachers' Association, led a delegation of the association to a meeting with Lt Gen A A K Niazi, the Zonal Martial Law Administrator for Zone B (East Pakistan) and Commander of the Eastern Command. The maulana gave a copy of the Quran to the general and told him: "We are ready to cooperate with the army for Pakistan's security and to enhance the glory of Islam". The General responded: "Ulamas (Islamic scholars), madrasah teachers and other patriotic citizens can protect the communications network and uproot the anti-state elements'. General Niazi assured full cooperation to them in organising voluntary groups like the village defence forces to face the Indian spies. After the meeting, madrasah teachers and students were inducted into the Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces and given military training.

Maulana Mannan had direct involvement in the killing of eminent physician Alim Chowdhury. The wife of the late physician, Mrs Shyamoli Chowdhury, and his younger brother Abdul Hafiz Chowdhury informed the Commission that some members of the AlBadr had gone to their house on December 14, 1971. Prior to that, the Al-Badr men had spent about 45 minutes at the residence of Maulana Mannan, the then a tenant downstairs.

They took away Alim Chowdhury who never returned.

In the third week of December, Abdul Hafiz Chowdhury filed an FIR (first information report) with the Ramna police station in Dhaka. Police nabbed the absconding maulana from the Azimpur area of the city. Mannan gave a confessional statement that three members of the Al-Badr who were his students picked up Dr Alim Chowdhury.

Mannan had a very close relationship with Brig. Kashem and Capt. Kayum, two key men in the Pakistani army who coordinated the slaughter of the intellectuals. The two officers had come to Mannan' s ground floor apartment only a month ago on the occasion of an Islamic festival at 2:30 am.

The story was published in the daily Dainik Bangla in December 1971 under the headline "Where are those three devils?" The History of Liberation War, a government publication, recounts the story in its eighth volume.

The Razakar forces organised by Mannan unleashed a reign of terror in Faridganj under the leadership of Khalilur Rahman, an elected chairman of the local village council. They killed innocent Faridganj people, raped their women, burnt their houses and looted their property.

Worst of all, according to popular accounts, Mannan's men took advantage of the situation to wipe out his political opponents, killing them after torture. The Commission got the details of the torture and murders from Aminul Huq Master, president of Thana Action Council in 1971 and the then general secretary of the Awami League's Faridganj chapter, M Abdul Jabbar Patwary and Abdul Awal, both members of the action council.

In their written deposition, they said: "Maulana Mannan's Razakar forces, acting under his instructions, killed innumerable Bengalis in Faridganj including Awami League leaders Abdul Majid Patwary, Haider Box Patwary, Ahmad Ullah Khan, Ishaq Khan, Sultan Khan, Aminullah Khan, local primary school headmaster Nibaran Chandra Das, Haren Chandra Das, Ansar Abdur Rab, Abdul Matin Saut, Sekandar Bhuiya, Abdus Sattar Bhuiya, Upendra Chandra Kannaker, Jageshwar Bhoumik, Mainuddin Khan, Abdul Odud Khan, Habibullah, Eshaq Mir, Akkas Miah, Abu Taher, Ayatullah, Hashim Khan, Hare Krishna Das, Jagabandhu Das, Madan Krishna Das, Nagendra Chandra Kabiraj and Govindra Chandra Das. Hasmati Begum and Arafati Begum, both from the village of Prattashi, were killed after rape."

Abdul Kader Patwary, son of martyr Haider Box Patwary, of Keroa village near the Faridganj market, said that political enmity between his late father and Maulana Mannan dated back to the time of local elections organised by military dictator General Ayub Khan in the mid-1960s. In 1971, Mannan's men came searching for Kader. As the son was not available, the Razakarmen picked up the father, the mother, the brothers and sisters. All but father Haider Box returned home. After three days of torture, Haider waskolled. Said Abdul Kader: "My father was killed on instructions of Maulana Mannan."

M Abdul Jabbar Patwary, son of martyr Abdul Majid Patwary, told the Commission: "Razakars swooped on our house on the night of July 3, 1971. They took away my father Abdul Majid Patwary to Faridganj (thana headquarters) with his legs fastened by ropes.

From 10 at night on July 4, they began torturing my father. The Razakars uprooted his beard strand by strand; Later the Faridganj police station officer in charge Oziullah told me that the Pakistani major contacted Maulana Mannan in Dhaka several times after my father was taken there. The major told Maulana Mannan at the time of first contact, 'The man you wanted is with us'. The last time Maulana Mannan ordered 'kill him'. Around at 1 am. on that night he was killed."

M Wajiullah, a businessman from Chandpur, also recounted the story of Abdul Majid Patwary's killing. He was also taken there by the Razakar.

On December 27, 1971 Maulana Mannan was handed over to Ramna police. He was released after influential quarters had intervened. He went into hiding.

A report published on May, 1972 by the daily Dainik Azad and headlined 'Help nab this cannibal" said: Abdul Mannan, the so-called maulana (Muslim cleric), a former general secretary of the Muslim League, a crony of the Peer of Sharshina (a religious leader known as a hated collaborator of the Pakistani army), an organiser of the Razakar-Badr forces, the mastermind of innumerable murders especially in the Faridganj area, is still at large. He is the one who organised the Razakar forces in Faridganj three months after the Liberation War had begun. He had a hand in killing Abdul Majid, the prominent Awami League leader from Faridganj, and Dr Alim Chowdhury of 29/1 Purana Paltan, Dhaka.

Anwar Zahid ANWAR ZAHID, a leading member of the pro-China East Pakistan Communist Party, (Marxist-Leninist) in the 1960s and a member in the cabinet of president Ershad in the mid-80s, was a collaborator of the Pakistan army in 1971, and acted as an intelligence gatherer for the military during the war.

The probe conducted by the Commission secretariat revealed that Zahid had been working as an informer of the military since the 1960s. Zahid visited West Pakistan in early 1960s, and held series of meetings with military intelligence officials, and received a sum of 500,000 rupees as payment. This information was given to the Commission by Nurunnabi, a former party colleague of Zahid, and Lutfe Alam, a close friend. His association with military intelligence became known within his party circles and he was later expelled from the EPCP (M-L). But he maintained contact with leaders of the party and the EPCP (M-L) later collaborated with the Pakistan army during the war of 1971.

Lutfe Alam, an advocate at the High Court, told the Commission that when the National Awami Party (NAP) led by veteran left-wing campaigner Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, decided to boycott the 1970 parliamentary polls, Zahid and some of his friends resigned from the party. Zahid' s complaint was that if NAP boycotted the polls, then the nationalist Awami League would win, which would lead to the break-up of Pakistan, turning East Pakistan into a province of India. Pakistan military intelligence had similar analysis about the elections and prospect of a League victory.

Zahid became an active informer of the military once Bangladesh's war of liberation got going. Aktar Jahan Begum, the landlady of the house were Zahid lived as a tenant in 1971, said, "Zahid was fanatically against the liberation war. Officers of the military used to regularly visit his house, and stay till late at night. Our neighbours, frightened by Zahid' s close association with the military, asked my husband to tell him to go and rent

another house. When my husband asked Zahid to leave, he got very angry and threatened to tell the army. After that, Zahid did not even pay his rent regularly. We could not say anything out of fear. Since they rented a part of our house, and we lived in the adjoining part, his wife and children used to visit us regularly. His wife Laili told us that there were regular secret meetings with army officers and leaders of political parties opposed to the liberation war in her house. Laili said Zahid was particularly friendly with one Major Siddique Salik. There were other officers, like Major Malik, Captain Chowdhury etc., who visited their house regularly".

Jamal Nasser, son of the landlady, said, "I used to be friends with Zahid's daughters Shoma and Antu. They used to always brag about their dad's friendship with army officers. Shoma also said that Zahid used to have regular rows with his wife over his hobnobbing with army officers. Shoma said her mother often called Zahid a 'killer' and a 'crony' and other names".

One Atiqur Rahman Khan was a neighbour of Zahid at the time. His son Syed Ahammad Khan told the Commission, "Zahid used to always propagate against the liberation war and tell us to join the Razakar force. I used to visit his house regularly and often saw leaders of political parties and army officers having meetings there. I got meet Major Salik personally".

It is apparent from the above testimony that Zahid used to conduct his intelligence work through Major Salik. Siddique Salik was top intelligence officer, who worked under the guise of the military's public relations officer.

Haider, a journalist working for the daily Jahane Nao, a newspaper published during the war period, said Zahid once organised a reception party at the National Press Club in honour of this Major Salik. "Zahid was the first to invite Salik to the press club, to facilitate gathering of intelligence about the freedom fighters from working journalists", he said.

Prior to the liberation war, Zahid was the chief reporter of English-language daily The People. The editor of the paper, Abidur Rahman also told the Commission about Zahid' s closeness to intelligence officers, particularly Salik.

During the war, Zahid also worked as a supplier of provisions to the Pakistan army. This was confirmed by Haji Selim, son of Sobhan Sardar, a prominent wholesale businessman at Shyam Bazar, a major wholesale outlet of perishable items. Selim said, "Zahid used to buy large amounts of goods from our shop. My father told me that Zahid was a journalist, who was now engaged in supply work for the army, after the army burnt the paper down.

He collected all his supplies from our shop".

One indication of Zahid' s anti-liberation activities came from a small item of news published in the daily Purbadesh, on Oct 12, 1971, which informed its readers that "the general secretary of NAP Mashiur Rahman and former joint secretary Anwar Zahid met with leaders of the Pakistan People's Party in Dhaka on Oct 11 Monday. Maulana Kawser

Niazi, publicity secretary of the PPP said that the talks had been fruitful".

It may be mentioned here that the PPP, like the Jamaat-e-Islami, also backed the Pakistan army's campaign against the people of Bangladesh.

Abdul Kader Molla ABDUL KADER MOLLA, currently the publicity secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami, was known as a "butcher" to the Bangalee people in the Dhaka suburb of Mirpur during 1971.

Mirpur at the time was mainly populated by non-Bengali Muslim migrants from India, many of whom were among the most ardent champions of the Pakistan army's actions in Bangladesh.

One of the largest mass graves of people butchered by Pakistani troops and their allies was discovered in the Shialbari area of Mirpur after independence. Local people told the Commission that Molla was behind the killing of thousands of Bangalees in Shialbari and Rupnagar areas of Mirpur during the war. According to local inhabitants, Molla began his killing spree even before the army had begun its operation.

On Mar 6, a public meeting was arranged in front the Ceramic Industries plant gate at Mirpur Section 6, to press for demands of the Bangalee people. As the people raised the nationalist slogan Joy BangIa (Victory to Bengal), narrated M Shahidur Rahman who was present at the meeting, Kader Molla and his gang attacked the meeting with swords, machetes and other sharp weapons, injuring many.M Feroze Ali, a resident of Block B of Mirpur Section 11, told the Commission that his brother Pallab Tuntuni, an 18-year old student, was killed on the orders of Kader Molla. The young man had been active supporter of the nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's call for non-cooperation movement against the Pakistan government from the 7th of March, and that was why his name was pencilled into Molla's hit-list.

On Mar 29, Molla's hitmen kidnapped Tuntuni from another part of the city and took him to Mirpur. The boy was then dragged from one part of Mirpur to another, and back again, with his hands tied behind his back. At a big playing field used usually for major religious congregations, Tuntuni was tied to a tree and left for two days. Later, Molla' s men returned and chopped off the boy's fingers. On April 5, a week after being kidnapped, Molla ordered his men to shoot Tuntuni dead. The boy's dead body was left dangling from the tree for another two days as a warning to others in the area, before being taken thrown in a mass grave with seven other bodies, Feroze Ali said.

Another eyewitness to Molla' s criminal activities in 1971 was M Shahidur Rahman Chowdhury. He told the Commission that Razakarmen under the command of Kader Molla brutally murdered woman poet Meherunnessa in October in Section 6 of Mirpur.

He said one Shiraj, who lived in the poet's home, lost mental balance at the sight of the murder. Shiraj still suffers from psychological disorder, Chowdhury said.

Witnesses further told the Commission that Molla organised local non-Bengali people of

Manipur, Sheorapara, Kazipara areas of Mirpur into armed groups under his own command. With these forces, Molla organised killings of thousands of Bangalees at various killing fields of Mirpur.

9. Previous trial attempts Immediately after the war, the topic of putting the war criminals to trial arose. Just as the war ended, Bangladeshi prime minister Tajuddin Ahmed admitted to Professor Anisuzzaman that the trial of the alleged Pakistani military personnel may not be possible because of pressures from the US. He also told that India and Soviet Union are not interested about the trial. On December 24 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, Indian government assured of giving all the assistance for bringing war criminals into justice. By July 1972, Bangladeshi government reduced the number of alleged war criminals from 400 to 195. In his book Liberation and Beyond, JN Dixit wrote that the Bangladeshi government was not interested about gathering evidence about the handful amount of war criminals. He was uncertain about the reason behind this approach and figured it as a result of a possible negotiation between the Bangladeshi and Pakistani government. He thought that Sheikh Mujib did not want to do anything that would stop Pakistan and other Muslim states from giving Bangladesh the official recognition. Worldwide support in favor of war trial faded after the 3 nation agreement.

On December 29 1991 one of the known alleged war criminals, Ghulam Azam, became the Chairman or Aamir of Jamaat-E-Islami which prompted political debates. As a result, a National Committee was established after a proposal of writer and political activist Jahanara Imam. Subsequently on 14 February 1992 "Ekattorer Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee" was formed to bring Azam and his followers to trial. 6 March 52 Muslim clerics supported the effort. An open court named Gonoadalot was formed and on March 26 1992 Jahanara Imam read out the verdict against Azam. Following the verdict Sheikh Hasina moved a proposal in the house to begin the prosecution, but it was not passed.

10.How far The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 can be applied in Bangladesh or needs any review Because of the moral obligation to ensure trial of war criminals, many countries of the world have enacted their own laws regarding such crimes. In Bangladesh, the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act was enacted in 1973 to ensure trials of war crimes, crimes against humanity, against peace and perpetration of genocide.

The 1973 Act describes any action which imposes war on a people, killings, rape, torture, detention, destruction or looting of property or aiding and abetment of or complicity in or conspiracy to commit these crimes, for reasons of political beliefs, religious faith, race, language and culture, as war crimes, crimes against humanity and peace, and genocide.

The Act has provisions for the formation of special tribunals and it makes it permissible for the use of newspaper reports of the war period, written documents such as books etc. as evidence. These trials definitely can take place under the International Crimes

(Tribunal) Act and relevant sections of the Bangladesh Criminal Procedure Code. All laws relevant to the subject, which have been repealed in the past, be revived and arrangements be made so that trials can take place under those laws as well.

The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 has been protected by an amendment of the Constitution of Bangladesh ( Article 47A) so that the Supreme Court could not term the Act unconstitutional for being counter to any of the fundamental rights.

Furthermore an attempt to commit, instigates, and conspires to commit and conniving in not preventing such crimes will be considered as crimes under the Act. The law contains provisions of constituting tribunals, (each tribunal consisting of a chairperson and not less two and not more than four), appointment of chief prosecutor and prosecutors, establishment of an Agency for the purpose of investigation into such crimes, punishment and giving legal aid to accused. The law also recognizes the right of the accused to appeal against the verdict of the Tribunal to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court . The law makes it clear that the proceedings of the Tribunal shall be in public (Section 10 of the Act). This is for the sake of transparency, fairness and justice.

Justice must not only be done but seen to be done.

The Act was enacted in 1973. In the 90s, Bangladesh has become party to many international human rights conventions/treaties. Some legal experts argue that taking into account of the provisions of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular Articles 9 (arrest and speedy trial), and Articles 14 and 15 ( the right of the accused), Sections 11 (power of the Tribunal), Section 17 (right of the accused) and Section 21 (right of appeal) may be revisited so as to ensure that they conform with provisions of international human rights conventions/treaties.

11.Fact-Finding Committee (FFC) Prior to setting up the tribunals, a fact- finding committee is set up whose task will be gather all materials, documents in support of the evidence to be submitted to the Tribunal.

The materials may be collected from within the country or abroad. In this connection, the UN can assist the fact –finding committee on what kind of evidentiary materials are required for the trial.

In overseas during the Liberation War, international community was involved in reporting and monitoring the situation and there are many materials abroad such as possessing materials of evidentiary values resting in broadcast in radios, human rights organizations, university centers of genocide and human rights (for example Tutgers University and Yale University in the USA) and individuals.

In the case of current on-going Camobodian war crime trial, some crucial evidentiary documents that once thought missing were reportedly discovered by the Yale University Genocide Research Centre. Bangladesh must explore such possibilities to gather and collate as much materials as possible from abroad for trial. Bangladesh must explore such possibilities to gather and collate materials for prosecution from abroad.

12. Setting up of a Tribunal under the Crimes Act, 1973

The first one is to set up a tribunal, appointment of prosecutors and setting up of investigation agency. This is the easiest part to do by the government. The law provides to file a complaint to the investigation agency and unless the investigation agency is set up, no one lodge a complaint under this law. However relatives can filed a FIR for a murder case against individuals under the country’s Penal Code and in fact it was reported on December 15 1993, a murder case lodged against some people known as war criminals in a magistrate’s court. The result of the case is not known or reported. The reality is that the tribunal cannot work until prosecutors submit the charges to the Tribunal. But the prosecutors can only submit a formal charge until the Investigation officers complete their investigation and a prima facie case has been made against a person. In this regard,The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, set up one or more Tribunals, each consisting of a Chairman and not less than two and not more than four other members. Any person who is or is qualified to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh or has been a Judge of any High Court or Supreme Court which at any time was in existence in the territory of Bangladesh or who is qualified to be a member of General Court Martial under any service law of Bangladesh may be appointed as a Chairman or member of a Tribunal. The permanent seat of a Tribunal shall be in Dhaka: Provided that a Tribunal may hold its sittings at such other place or places as it deems fit. If any member of a Tribunal dies or is, due to illness or any other reason, unable to continue to perform his functions, the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare the office of such member to be vacant and appoint thereto another person qualified to hold the office. If, in the course of a trial, any one of the members of a Tribunal is, for any reason, unable to attend any sitting thereof, the trial may continue before the other members.A Tribunal shall not, merely by reason of any change in its membership or the absence of any member thereof from any sitting, be bound to recall and re-hear any witness who has already given any evidence and may act on the evidence already given or produced before it.

If, upon any matter requiring the decision of a Tribunal, there is a difference of opinion among its members, the opinion of the majority shall prevail and the decision of the Tribunal shall be expressed in terms of the views of the majority. Neither the constitution of a Tribunal nor the appointment of its Chairman or members shall be challenged by the prosecution or by the accused persons or their counsel.

13.Prosecutor & Investigation agency The Government may appoint one or more persons to conduct the prosecution before a Tribunal on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Government; and every such person shall be deemed to be a Prosecutor for the purposes of this Act. The Government may designate one of such persons as the Chief Prosecutor.

The Government may establish an Agency for the purposes of investigation into crimes specified in section 3; and any officer belonging to the Agency shall have the right to assist the prosecution during the trial. Any person appointed as a Prosecutor is competent to act as an Investigation Officer and the provisions relating to investigation shall apply to such Prosecutor. Any Investigation Officer making an investigation under this Act may by order in writing, require the attendance before himself of any person who appears to

be acquainted with the circumstances of the case; and such person shall attend as so required. Any Investigation Officer making an investigation under this Act may examine orally any person who appears to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case. Such person shall be bound to answer all questions put to him by an Investigation Officer and shall not be excused from answering any question on the ground that the answer to such question will criminate, or may tend directly or indirectly to criminate, such person: Provided that no such answer, which a person shall be compelled to give, shall subject him to any arrest or prosecution, or be proved against him in any criminal proceeding.

The Investigation Officer may reduce into writing any statement made to him in the course of examination under this section. Any person who fails to appear before an Investigation Officer for the purpose of examination or refuses to answer the questions put to him by such Investigation Officer shall be punished with simple imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to Taka two thousand, or with both. Any Magistrate of the first class may take cognizance of an offence punishable upon a complaint in writing by an Investigation Officer. Any investigation done into the crimes specified in section 3 shall be deemed to have been done under the provisions of this Act. 14. The commencement of proceedings The proceedings before a Tribunal shall commence upon the submission by the Chief Prosecutor, or a Prosecutor authorized by the Chief Prosecutor in this behalf, of formal charges of crimes alleged to have been committed by each of the accused persons. The Tribunal shall thereafter fix a date for the trial of such accused person. The Chief Prosecutor shall, at least three weeks before the commencement of the trial, furnish to the Tribunal a list of witnesses intended to be produced along with the recorded statement of such witnesses or copies thereof and copies of documents which the prosecution intends to rely upon in support of such charges.The submission of a list of witnesses and documents under sub-section (3) shall not preclude the prosecution from calling, with the permission of the Tribunal, additional witnesses or tendering any further evidence at any stage of the trial: Provided that notice shall be given to the defence of the additional witnesses intended to be called or additional evidence sought to be tendered by the prosecution.A list of witnesses for the defence, if any, along with the documents or copies thereof, which the defence intends to rely upon, shall be furnished to the Tribunal and the prosecution at the time of the commencement of the trial.

15. Procedure of trial The following procedure shall be followed at a trial before a Tribunal, namely:(a) the charge shall be read out; (b) the Tribunal shall ask each accused person whether he pleads guilty or not-guilty; (c) if the accused person pleads guilty, the Tribunal shall record the plea, and may, in its discretion, convict him thereon;

(d) the prosecution shall make an opening statement; (e) the witnesses for the prosecution shall be examined, the defence may cross-examine such witnesses and the prosecution may re-examine them; (f) the witnesses for the defence, if any, shall be examined, the prosecution may crossexamine such witnesses and the defence may re-examine them; (g) the Tribunal may, in its discretion, permit the party which calls a witness to put any question to him which might be put in cross-examination by the adverse party; (h) the Tribunal may, in order to discover or obtain proof of relevant facts, ask any witness any question it pleases, in any form and at any time about any fact; and may order production of any document or thing or summon any witness, and neither the prosecution nor the defence shall be entitled either to make any objection to any such question or order or, without the leave of the Tribunal, to cross-examine any witness upon any answer given in reply to any such question; (i) the prosecution shall first sum up its case, and thereafter the defence shall sum up its case: Provided that if any witness is examined by the defence, the prosecution shall have the right to sum up its case after the defence has done so; (j) the Tribunal shall deliver its judgement and (2) All proceedings before the Tribunal shall be in English.

pronounce

its

verdict.

(3) Any accused person or witness who is unable to express himself in, or does not understand, English may be provided the assistance of an interpreter.

(4) The proceedings of the Tribunal shall be in public: Provided that the Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, take proceedings in camera.

16. Pre-trial Chamber Another idea has been argued is that when the tribunal is set up, a pre-trial chamber ( a Mechanism used by ICC) may be established consisting of some members of Tribunal to Examine the prima facie evidence with a view to finding whether there is a case to answer for the accused.

17. The initiatives of the present democratic Government Bangladesh may request the International Criminal Court to put on trial Pakistani forces for alleged war crimes. The alleged perpetrators of the atrocities among the Pakistani forces were not in Bangladesh now, so Dhaka needed international assistance to bring them to justice, he added.

'And we will request the world body to bring them to justice as many of them are guilty of war crimes,' said Tajul, a war veteran. He said the government was going to appoint a body to reinvestigate the crimes.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court, which came into being in 2002, is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

An inter-ministry meeting comprising representatives from Bangladesh's ministry of law, home affairs ministry, foreign affairs ministry and liberation war affairs ministry, was held some days ago to examine the best possible way to bring war criminals to justice.

More than 80,000 officers and soldiers of the Pakistani army and the paramilitary and police forces and 13,000 civilians were repatriated from Bangladesh after their surrender to the allied forces led by the Indian army on December 16, 1971.

In a goodwill gesture, India - which had given all-out support to Bangladesh during the war - unilaterally decided not to try the prisoners of war for war crimes and released them under the July 3, 1972 Simla Agreement with Pakistan.

Bangladesh was not a party to the agreement.

The state minister said that the government would do everything possible to bring the war criminals, whoever they may be, to justice in a transparent manner so that no one could question the fairness of the trials.

Bangladesh has formally sought assistance from the United Nations to ensure that investigation and prosecution of war criminals can take place in conformity with international standards.

It also requested the UN to send a panel of experts to assist Bangladeshi authorities, which are intending to try the criminals under the International Crimes Tribunal Act of 1973, a law Bangladesh had enacted two years of its liberation.

The UN has also assured Bangladesh that it would send experts to share their experiences to help Bangladesh avoid possible errors as a few other countries are being criticized for their mistakes in prosecuting war crimes.

18. preparing a white paper and seek assistance from International community The government may seriously consider preparing a White Paper on the reasons for holding trials for such horrible and senseless crimes committed during the Liberation War of 1971. A copy of the White Paper may be distributed to all foreign resident diplomatic missions in Dhaka. Furthermore, the government may embark on diplomatic efforts through our missions overseas to explain the need and the popular demand for this trial to cross section of public including civil society and media abroad, eliminating possible mis-perception that the trial is a policy of revenge and retaliation.

To demonstrate the commitment to trial of war crimes, it is appropriate that Bangladesh ratifies the Statute of International Criminal Court of 1998 (Bangladesh signed it) and the ratification will show to the international community Bangladesh's firm resolve that war crimes must not and cannot escape unpunished.

Crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide are the gravest crimes in international law and are condemned by all UN members. The effective punishment is an important element in the prevention and recurrence of such odious crimes and for protection of the inherent dignity of human person.

The United Nations said that some of its top war crimes experts would advise Bangladesh on how to try those accused of murder and rape during its bloody 1971 Liberation War. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in power since the beginning of the year, has promised to hold the trials as soon as possible.

"We have suggested the names of some top international experts who have experience in how war crimes tribunals operate across the globe," head of the United Nations in Bangladesh, Renata Lok Dessallien, told AFP. "This is the first time Bangladesh is conducting war crimes tribunals and it is important it understands how other countries have held them," Renata said.

"There are some countries where mistakes were made and we don't want Bangladesh to repeat those mistakes," she added.

She said the UN would also look into Bangladeshi law to see whether it complied with international war crimes legislation.

Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed welcomed the move, and said the government was expected to announce on Thursday that it would begin the investigation into the alleged crimes.

"The UN will advise us so that we don't make any mistakes and so that the process is transparent and does not create any questions," the minister said.

The UN's move was also welcomed by Amnesty International.

"I hope that the initiative to seek UN assistance to address the 1971 war crimes marks the beginning of a process to heal the wounds of this war in the national psyche," said Irene Khan, the group's secretary-general who is of Bangladeshi origin.

The alleged war criminals -- who sided with what was then West Pakistan -- committed murder, rape and arson as they fought against East Pakistan's struggle to become the independent country of Bangladesh.

The government said three million people were killed during the war.

A private group, which has investigated the conflict, has blamed 1,775 people, including top Pakistani generals and local Islamists allied 19. Resolution adopted in parliament Crime, although committed against a person, is an offence against law and order of a State and that is why it constitutes a crime against a State and State prosecutors (public prosecutors) pursue a criminal case. War crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity are offences against humankind because it denigrates human dignity. That is why every country has an obligation under international law to try individuals who allegedly perpetrated such crimes, irrespective of the fact whether such crimes were committed in that State or not.

A person who allegedly commits a crime can always be charged until that person is alive.

Unlike civil litigation or disputes, length of time does not affect crime. In other words, it does not have statutory limitation. That is why those who allegedly committed genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes (grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions) during the Nazi Germany more than 60 years ago are being arrested and tried. In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge leaders who alleged committed crimes against humanity and turned the country into 'killing fields' during 1975-79 are being put on trial after 30 years by a Tribunal with the backing of the UN.

On 3rd December, 1973, a resolution of the General Assembly (Resolution number 3074) was adopted underscoring the obligations of member-States of the UN in the detention, arrest, extradition and punishment of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Bangladesh is a member of the UN and it is a duty of Bangladesh to hold trials for such crimes.

Given the above background, on 29th January 2009, Bangladesh Parliament adopted a resolution to try war criminals. On 25th March, the government decided to try war criminals under the 1973 International Crimes (Tribunals) Act and investigation as claimed by the government had already begun.

20. Role of International community War crimes trial has international dimension. It has been a sensitive issue for many authoritarian developing countries because some of their heads of State or Governments adopt systematic and widespread state-sponsored oppressive and repressive measures against civilian population and political opponents and therefore they think they could be indicted by the Hague-based UN International Criminal Court.

It is obvious that there are strong reservations of many countries for holding trials for such crimes. For example, about 30 countries that abstained from voting in the UN General Assembly when the Cambodian trial was put to vote. All African and Arab countries object to the issue of warrant of arrest on 4th March to the Sudanese President by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur region of Sudan.

21. Case filed in Australia A case was filed in the Federal Court of Australia on September 20, 2006 under the Genocide Conventions Act 1949 and War Crimes Act, alleged crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971 by the Pakistani Armed Forces and its collaborators. This is the first time in history that someone named Raymond F Solaiman is attending a court proceeding in relation to the crimes of Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971.

22. U.S.A to transfer war criminals Recently, United States Senate has adopted a legislation titled "Denying Safe Havens to International and War Criminals Act of 1999". In where for the first time, it has empowered the Attorney General, among others, to transfer international criminals in custody for prosecution. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of US is denying admission or removing aliens who have committed torture abroad.

23.Latest Development The process of trying war criminals has begun on April 8 appointment of an investigation officer and a public prosecutor.

of this year with the

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has accepted a UN offer of sending a team of war crime experts to help Bangladesh try those who were involved in various war crimes during the Liberation War of 1971.

Law ministry officials said the group of UN specialists, having experience in dealing with war crimes that had occurred in different nations, might visit Dhaka shortly.

UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Renata Lok Dessallien put forward the offer at a meeting with Law Minister Shafique Ahmed at his ministry. Home Minister Sahara Khatun was also present at the meeting.

“We have offered Bangladesh to bring here specialists, who deal with the war crime issues, so that the trial process of 1971 war criminals meets international standards,” Renata told reporters after the meeting.

She said mistakes have been made in trials of war crimes earlier in many countries. “The experts will share their experiences here in Bangladesh to avoid the mistakes,” she added terming the process very complex and delicate.

Renata reiterated the UN’s cooperation in holding the trial but said the trial would be of Bangladesh’s own, not the UN’s.

State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam said steps have already been taken so that suspects of war crimes cannot flee the country.

Law ministry officials said a large team would be formed to initiate investigation into the genocide that took place during the Liberation War after appointing the investigating officer and a public prosecutor for conducting the trial. The government has already passed a resolution in parliament paving the way for holding the trial.

24. Expert Opinion Dr MA Hasan, convener of War Crimes Facts Finding Committee (WCFFC) says that there is enough evidence to try the war criminals of 1971. "We have many victims still alive, witnesses to the atrocities, documents and other evidence," he says. Deputy Chief of Liberation Forces Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandker, former advisor of caretaker government and human rights activist advocate Sultana Kamal, war crime researcher and human rights activist Shahriar Kabir and many other experts are equally confident about the availability of the evidence even after a lapse of 37 years.

"If it was possible to try German Nazis fifty years after their war crime," says Khandker, "there is no question of not holding trials of war criminals of 1971 after 37 years."

"I believe the trial of war criminals of Bangladesh’s liberation war is not only the responsibility of our state, people, country and government. It is a prerequisite to create a just and civilised society. Those who have committed the worst crimes in this nation’s history must be tried for the sake of humanity," Sultana Kamal opines.

According to Ghulam Rabbani, former judge of Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, the necessary documentary materials for convicting the collaborators including the killers of intellectuals are all there with the home ministry. "Since the materials are more than 30 years old, according to the Evidence Act those are to be treated as ancient documents," explains Rabbani. "No other evidence is required as those at the disposal of the ministry would be sufficient as exhibits in the case records, and conviction and sentence on the basis of that are very much possible."

Some war crime researchers and leading freedom fighters think it would be better if international jurists, other experts and especially the United Nations help the Bangladesh government in the inquiry commission and trials as the UN has done in the case of many countries across the globe. But Justice Ghulam Rabbani thinks, that if we say the trial will be held under the supervision of the UN it will be a dangerous proposition because the country will have to surrender sovereignty.

"We have the necessary Act namely the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973," says Rabbani, "now the government will have to constitute one or more tribunals by appointing the members according to the terms of the Act." Shahriar Kabir, acting president of Ekatturer Ghatok Dalal Nirmul Committee (A Forum for secular Bangladesh) has similar views, "We expect the UN’s role in trying the Pakistani war criminals but now we are more concerned about the trial of Bangladeshi war criminals." Hasan emphasises on the terms of references of the trial. "The UN can help us in many ways but terms of references should be formulated by our government considering our social, political and historic perspective."

Some war crime and legal experts say there is scope to categories offences of war criminals of the Liberation War of Bangladesh as in the past few decades many new laws have been formulated, adding new universally accepted definitions of offences such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace. The International Criminal Court and many other special tribunals in different countries have dealt with war crime and have defined offences in different categories.

"We will have to check thoroughly who were involved with the crimes during our liberation war and under which category of the offences they fall," says Advocate Sultana Kamal. "We should proceed very carefully with a clear idea as the war criminals cannot evade justice due to the loopholes in laws," she adds.

Hasan points out the importance of involving the UN as it can play a key role in neutralising pressures from outside that may stand in the way of the process to try war criminals. Says Hasan, "I came to know that when the caretaker government expressed their sincerity to the demand of trial of war criminals, some countries, even from the Middle East put pressure on the government not to try the war criminals."

Khandker, a newly elected law maker from the AL, also a leader of the Sector Commanders’ Forum, a newly formed organization that came into the forefront in the last

two years with the demand for trial of war criminals, says that an inquiry commission can be set up under the tribunal and the commission would go through the existing evidence and will investigate further. .Justice Rabbani says, "We already have the list of war criminals in Bangladesh and other necessary records and evidence. We have many documents with the names of the people who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces under different names including Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams. Now the procedures should be started to try them."

Hasan expects the new government would place the matter in the first session of the ninth parliament to initiate the process to try war criminals. He thinks an inquiry commission should be formed and be made functional by March and a tribunal for war crime should start functioning by the middle of this year "as we can have plenty of time to finish the long process of trial."

Hasan’s stance is clear about those war collaborators who did not directly carry out the crimes, rather masterminded them or assisted the Pak Army in committing them. "I think those who were not involved directly in the killing, rape and other war crimes but through provocation masterminded genocide and other crimes politically, must also be tried," he says. He adds that amending the constitution we can have provisions that those war criminals will not have any right to get involved with any organization, politics and in any beneficiary post, but can only have voting rights as citizens.

25. Public Airing Of Grievances The public airing of grievances in a non-criminal context could possibly promote an atmosphere in which some kind of national reconciliation would be feasible. Publicly acknowledging the torment and suffering of victims and survivors can help in the recovery of their social and political well being as it helps them psychologically and contributes to defusing potential cycles of revenge and victimization.

26.Permanent Reminders & Documentation Establishment of permanent reminders of the past, such as monuments, museums, public holidays, and ceremonies together with support group, provide a channel of non-violent expression of pain, frustration and anger.

It is very important to establish a permanent historical record that would inform and educate future generations to prevent similar atrocities. Future generations must be taught about the dangers of repeating the past.

Thus, documentation of genocide and identification of the violators in some kind of public record at the national or at the international should be done. Oral histories of survivors and other witnesses can be collected. Testimonies of perpetrators and their superiors can be recorded. Findings of the Commissions, trial transcripts, or the perpetrators own documentations should be published.

27. Responsibility to conduct the trial as a civilized nation By bringing action against perpetrators, their superiors and collaborators, a new regime can signal to victims and to the whole community that the state no longer considers the victims to be outcasts. The judicial process itself can also permit individual survivors and relatives and friends of victims to tell their stories, to document the torment and the suffering and to ventilate the feelings and emotions that have remained pent-up inside.

Another important reason for prosecuting those who commit and those who order genocide is that those who have been the direct victims will then see that justice has been done. For victims, seeing their tormentors brought to justice can have a strong therapeutic effect. Punishing the perpetrators of the old regime advances the cause of building or reconstructing a morally just society. Justice be done to put back in place the moral order that has broken down. Justice be done as a moral obligation to the victims of the repression. Post- genocide justice serves to heal the wounds and repair the private and public damage done. It also acts, as a sort of ritual cleansing process. A country in which such cleansing remains unfinished are plagued by continuous brooding and pondering. Criminal prosecutions also strengthen fragile democracies. Survival of the successor regime depends on swift and firm action against the perpetrators and their follower.If the prosecution issue remains untouched, other forms of social and political disturbance may be triggered, with perhaps a risk of vigilante justice with summery executions. It may also give birth to conspiracy theories in which the leaders of the successor regime are labeled as the hidden agents of the old order that they are treating in a too soft and ambiguous way.

Failure to prosecute may generate in the populace cynicism and distrust toward the political system. Unless the crimes of the defeated are investigated and punished, there can be no real growth of trust, no implanting of democratic norms in the society at large, and therefore no genuine consolidation of democracy. Prosecutions are seen as the most potent deterrent against future abuses of human rights. A civilized society must recognize the worth and dignity of those victimized by abuses of the past.

28.Conclusion In order to safeguard the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh, it is necessary to bring these killers, collaborators and war criminals to justice. Today, Bangladesh has a democratically elected government in power. The government and all opposition political parties are talking about establishing democracy in the country. It would not be possible to establish democracy, rule of law or human rights, by avoiding the trial of those who participated directly or indirectly in the Pakistan army's campaign of genocide, rape, arson, looting etc. On this score, the principal responsibility to ensure trial falls on the shoulders of the government. Only the government has the power to ensure the trial of any crime.

Bibliography: 1. Liberation and Beyond-JN Dixit 2. Death by Government-R.J. Rummel, 3. Report of Evidences against the perpetrators of 1971 published by National People's Enquiry Commission, Bangladesh 4. The Killers and Collaborators of 1971: An Account of Their Where about, by the Centre for the Development of the Spirit of the Liberation War 5.Internatioanl law & Human Rights by S.K Kapoor 6. Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900 by Rummel, Rudolph J. (1998).

7. Ibrahim, Nilima, Ami Virangana Bolchhi 8. Star Weekend Magazine of The Daily Star.

9. Brownmiller, Susan, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape 10.ings and publications of various organizations working with the trial of war crimes.

11. Interviews & expert opinion of researcher in that regards.

11. Internet.