Washington expresses 'grave concern' over war crime trial

GEOPOLITICS UNDER TRANSFORMATION

by M. Shahidul Islam, Friday January 21;Weekly Holiday

Within years of being catapulted as a pre-eminent regional power, India is on the verge of losing its wind-fallen clout due to some new variables having intervened to re-structure the South Asian geopolitical landscape.
Consequently, the AL-led coalition govt. is under intense pressure to change courses in domestic and international policy pursuance.
The prime mover of this geopolitical shift is the US President Barack Obama, who seems to have re-set his focus on working with China more closely, seemingly at the cost of India, in a desperate bid to retrieve the US's and the global economy from a grinding stagnation that has begun to spark Tunisia-type upheavals in many countries.
The increased Washington-Beijing intimacy has also been necessitated by factors such as dealing with North Korea and Iran, the two nations inexorably moving toward military-nuclearization and, over which Beijing wields enormous influence.
Besides, Beijing's recent decision to trade with Russia using their respective currencies-which further reduced demand on US dollar - has become a major concern in Washington.



Unprecedented cordiality
China is also the only nation having substantive currency reserve, about $4 trillion, that can help desperate nations to borrow and survive. That is precisely why, on January 19, President Hu Jintao was received at the White House with unprecedented gala, glitter and cordiality; for a day long meeting with President Obama on trade, security and human rights issues. "Never before did a Chinese head of government receive so much personal attention in Washington," wrote a commentator.
"History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all peoples are upheld, including the universal rights of every human being," Obama said. President Hu responded with a call for both countries to respect each other's 'core interests.'
That core interest revolves mainly around bilateral trade between the US and China, which is expected to exceed $400 billion in 2011. "China has been the fastest-growing market for US products for nine years in a row," according to a Xinhua report. In terms of Beijing's global trade, the US ranks at the top of China's export destinations.

Bangladesh factor
China is also the main trading partner of Bangladesh (Industries Minister Dilip Barua expects Bangladesh - China bilateral trade to reach $5 billion by the end of 2011) and Dhaka needs to re-adjust its geopolitical priorities in light of this new-found cordiality between Beijing and Washington that has already begun to replace the tension-prone US-China relations that was spurred by what now seems to be a transient strategic relationship between Delhi and Washington, forged in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.
As the global economic realities changed phenomenally over last five years or so, it was too predictable that the US-China relationship too must swerve from its current course toward more coordination to avoid adversarial military-strategic posturing.
"The US still recognizes Delhi's pivotal role in South Asia", said a senior Obama administration official, adding, "It's time to be more respectful of Beijing's core values." The official hinted of an impending shift in Washington's assessment of regional security matters at a time when the US is determined to wind up its Afghan mission by 2014.
Insisting on anonymity, the official said, "That is why Hilary Clinton (Secretary of State) had called PM Sheikh Hasina last week to let the Bangladesh PM know where the US stands in terms of Dhaka's moves relating to war on terror, trial of alleged war criminals and their impact on regional peace and stability.
"The US is deeply concerned by the hunt of alleged war criminals that has sent to underground a huge segment of Bangladeshi citizenry who had supported Pakistan's solidarity in 1971. This group will pose enormous danger on security of the region," feared the official.

Leaked transcript
Meanwhile, this scribe has obtained a copy of the transcript of the latest Hasina-Clinton telephone conversations. Although the authenticity of the transcript could not be verified independently due to the US's Access to Information statute barring disclosure of some information until the expiration of a specific time period, the disclosure has already become an 'open-sourced material' following its limited circulation via internet within Washington's diplomatic corps.
Partial text of the leaked transcript reveals Secretary Clinton having said to Hasina, "Madame Prime Minister, I have been updated by Ambassador-at-Large Stephen Rapp about his visit to Dhaka . Honestly, at the request of New Delhi, we sent him there and tried our best to help you better organize the (war crime) trial. After listening from Ambassador Rapp and our Ambassador Moriarty, I felt obligated to inform you that both I and President Obama take the iss1ent. Bangladesh has to reform the whole process in a way so that it doesn't become a conduit of punishing opposition."
In response PM Hasina said, "Madame Secretary, I understand your concern and I already asked my Law Minister to take note of what Ambassador Rapp suggested. This is a trial we undertook with active support and assistance of New Delhi. I am sure Indian Ambassador in Washington DC will brief you further on that."
Hasina-Clinton conversations contained a number of other sensitive matters which we decided not to publish for discretionary reasons. But one particular concern of the US Secretary of State deserves public attention.
Clinton said, "Madame Prime Minister, let me come to the core point for which I called you. As you have seen even Washington Post picked up your treatment to Dr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank. I thought it is about time to tell you how upset we are. I am personally upset because Dr.Yunus has been a family friend to the Clintons long before his wining of the Nobel Prize. President Clinton is equally upset. Hope you are aware how hard he worked to see Dr. Yunus get this award. I know people may have personal issues, but when it comes to national icon like Dr. Yunus, I thought Bangladesh shouldn't demonize country's only Nobel Laureate."

Torture investigation
The US aside, pressure on the government also lurked from the UK where, according to the Guardian newspaper (Jan 18th issue), the Downing Street (British PM's official residence) had agreed to launch a public inquiry into allegations of torture of some British citizens in Bangladesh. The Guardian quoted a Downing Street spokesperson as saying: "We have announced that there will be a torture inquiry" (involving Bangladesh).
The investigation was spurred by another Guardian report that had accused the Taskforce for Interrogation Cell, or TFI-which is run by the RAB and where hundreds have been tortured in recent past - of gross human rights violations.
According to the report, among the victims were a number of British citizens who were detained after Jacqui Smith, then home secretary, flew to Dhaka in 2007 to press the Bangladesh government for greater co-operation in counter-terrorism operations.
The report claimed that the torture of the Bangladeshi-descent British citizens occurred following that visit and the Home Secretary's meeting with "representatives of a particularly notorious agency, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, or DGFI."
The report added, "According to a senior DGFI counter-terrorism officer, Smith asked the agency to investigate a number of individuals about whom the UK had suspicions." In the process, most of those British citizens were inhumanly tortured in the TFI.
Added to the increasingly troubling recent events at Bangladesh-India borders (especially the heart-wrenchingly tragic story of Felani's death in BSF's hand) and the marauding vandalism of ruling party goons in the just concluded local government elections, the government must re-assess the manners in which it has conducted its domestic and international policies so far.

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