An assistant of the defense team of ICT was arrested while making photocpies of documents provided by the tribunal itself

ফটোকপি করার সময় ট্রাইব্যুনালের নামে ফোন করিয়ে আটক

নিজস্ব প্রতিনিধি

যুদ্ধাপরাধ মামলায় অধ্যাপক গোলাম আযমের বিরুদ্ধে দায়ের করা মামলা সম্পর্কিত কিছু কাগজপত্র নীলক্ষেতে ফটোকপি করার সময় আসামি পক্ষের আইনজীবীদের গবেষণা দলের একজন সদস্যকে আটক করে নিউমার্কেট থানা পুলিশ। গত মঙ্গলবার এ ঘটনা ঘটে। আজ বুধবার ট্রাইব্যুনালের নির্দেশে নিউমাকের্ট থানার ওসি মোস্তাফিজুর রহমান আটককৃত ব্যক্তি ও জব্দকৃত ডকুমেন্ট নিয়ে হাজির হন আদালতে। আদালতকে তিনি জানান, ট্রাইব্যুনাল থেকে তাদেরকে বলা হয়েছে নীলক্ষেতে যুদ্ধাপরাধ বিষয়ক কাগজপত্র ফটোকপি করা হচ্ছে। এগুলো প্রসিকিউশনের ডকুমেন্ট। এগুলো ওখানে গেল কী করে। ওগুলো আপনারা আটকান। তখন আমরা এ পদক্ষেপ নেই।
আজ সকাল সাড়ে দশটার দিকে ট্রাইব্যুনালের কার্যক্রম শুরু হলে আসামি পক্ষের আইনজীবী তাজুল ইসলাম আদালতকে বলেন, গভীর দুঃখের সাথে আজ আদালতকে একটি বিষয় জানাতে হচ্ছে। অধ্যাপক গোলাম আযমের বিষয়ে ট্রাইব্যুনালের নির্দেশে যেসব ডকুমেন্ট প্রসিকিউশন আমাদের দিয়েছিল তার কিছু কাগজপত্র আমরা নীলক্ষেতে ফটোকপির জন্য পঠিয়েছিলাম আমাদের রিসার্চ টিমের একজন সদস্যকে। কিন্তু গত মঙ্গলবার ফটোকপি করার সময় সমস্ত ডকুমেন্টসহ ওই সদস্যকে আটক করে নিয়ে যায় নিউমার্কেট থানা পুলিশ।
তাজুল ইসলাম বলেন, আমাদের ওই সদস্যকে আটকের পর তার মোবাইল ফোন সিজ করা হয় এবং তার সাথে আমাদের যোগাযোগ বন্ধ হয়ে যায়।
আদালত তখন বলেন, মঙ্গলবার এ কথা আমাদের জানননি কেন। তাজুল ইসলাম তখন বলেন, যাকে আমরা ফটোকপির জন্য পাঠাই তার সাথে যোগাযোগ করতে না পারার কারণে আমরা জানতে পারিনি কী হয়েছে। রাতে ফটোকপির দোকানে দিয়ে দোকান বন্ধ পাই। সারা রাত তার কোনো খোঁজ পাইনি। আজ (বুধবার) সকালে দোকান খোলার পর আমরা ফটোকপির দোকানে গিয়ে জানতে পারি মঙ্গলবার ফটোকপির সময় তাকে নিউমার্কেট পুলিশ ধরে নিয়ে গেছে কাগজপত্রসহ। এপর আমরা থানাই যোগাযোগ করি। থানা কর্তৃপক্ষকে জানাই যে, এগুলো আমাদের লিগ্যাল ডকুমেন্ট। ট্রাইব্যুনালের নির্দেশেই রাষ্ট্রপক্ষের প্রসিকিউশন এগুলো আমাদের দিয়েছে। এটা এখন আমাদের ডকুমেন্ট। আমাদের কাজের প্রয়োজনে এগুলো আমরা ফটোকপির জন্য নিলক্ষেতে পাঠিয়েছি। এটা অবৈধ কোনো কিছু নয়। কিন্তু তারপরও থানা কর্তৃপক্ষ আমাদের ডকুমেন্ট ফেরত দিতে অস্বীকার করে। আটককৃত ব্যক্তিকেও তারা ছাড়েনি। তারা বলেছে ট্রাইব্যুনালের নির্দেশ ছাড়া এগুলো তারা ফেরত দেবে না।
নীলক্ষেতে ফটোকপি করতে পাঠানো বিষয়ে তাজুল ইসলাম আদালতকে জানান, আমাদের একটি ফটোকপি মেশিন রয়েছে। কিন্তু আমাদের যে কাগজপত্র দেয়া হয়েছে তা ৩০ হাজার কপির মত। এখান থেকে কয়েক সেট বানাতে হলে লক্ষাধিক কপি ফটোকপির দরকার হয়। আমাদের নিজস্ব যে ফটোকপি মেশিন রয়েছে তাতে অল্প সময়ে এত বেশি ফটোকপি করা সম্ভব নয়। সে কারণে আমরা নীলক্ষেতে পাঠাই।
এ ঘটনা শোনার পর আদালত তাজুল ইসলামকে বলেন, আপনি এখনই বিষয়টি লিখিত আকারে আমাদেরকে জানান। আমরা পদক্ষেপ নিচ্ছি। আদালত বলেন, এভাবে এসব ডকুমেন্ট পাবলিক প্লেসে ফটোকপি না করাই ভালো।
এ পর্যায়ে রাষ্ট্রপক্ষের আইনজীবী জেয়াদ আল মালুম আদালতকে পরামর্শ দিয়ে বলেন, আটককৃত ব্যক্তি ও জব্দকৃত মালামাল প্রথমে ট্র্রাইব্যুনালে জমা দেয়ার নির্দেশ দেয়া হোক। তারপর সেগুলো দেখে তাদের ফেরত দেয়ার ব্যবস্থা করা হোক।
তখন ট্রাইব্যুনাল নিউ মার্কেট থানার ওসিকে একটার মধ্যে (বুধবার) আটককৃত ব্যক্তি (এস এম জোবায়ের আলম) এবং জব্দকৃত ডকুমেন্টসহ আদালতে হাজির হতে নির্দেশ দেন। লিখিত নির্দেশ পেয়ে নিউ মার্কেট থানার ওসি মোস্তাফিজুর রহমান সাড়ে বারটার দিকে ট্রাইব্যুনালে হাজির হন। আদালত তার কাছে ঘটনা জানতে চাইলে তিনি বলেন, ট্রাইব্যুনাল থেকে তাদেরকে বলা হয়েছে নীলক্ষেতে যুদ্ধাপরাধবিষয়ক কাগজপত্র ফটোকপি করা হচ্ছে। এগুলো প্রসিকিউশনের ডকুমেন্ট। এগুলো ওখানে গেল কী করে। ওগুলো আপনারা আটকান। তখন আমরা এ পদক্ষেপ নেই।
আদালত তখন বলেন, আমরা তিনজন ট্রাইব্যুনালের বিচারপতি। আমরা তো কেউ এ কথা বলিনি।
ঘটনা জানার পর এবং জব্দকৃত কাগজপত্র দেখে আদালত তখনই তা আসামি পক্ষের আইনজীবীদের ফেরত দেয়া এবং আটক এস এম জোবায়ের আলমকেও ছেড়ে দেয়ার আদেশ দেন। এরপর আদালত কক্ষেই এ আদেশ বাস্তবায়ন করা হয়।
আসামি পক্ষের আইনজীবী তাজুল ইসলাম সাংবাদিকদের বলেন, পুলিশ বলেছে ট্রাইব্যুনালের বরাদ দিয়ে কেউ তাদের ফোন করেছে। আর ট্রাইব্যুনাল বলেছেন তারা এ জাতীয় কোনো আদেশ দেননি। তাহলে ট্রাইব্যুনালের নাম ব্যবহার করে কারা এবং কাদের প্ররোচনায় এ কাজ করেছে তা চিহ্নিত করা দরকার। এটি স্বাধীন বিচার ব্যবস্থার জন্য কলঙ্কজনক। একটা বৈধ ডকুমেন্ট ফটোকপি করতেও যদি আসামি পক্ষকে এভাবে হয়রানি করা হয় তাহলে আমরা যাব কোথায়? তিনি বলেন, পেছন থেকে একটি মহল জেনেশুনে কলকাঠি নাড়ছে। ন্যায়বিচার প্রাপ্তি থেকে আমাদের বাধাগ্রস্ত করার চেষ্টা করছে।

http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/details/23575

Witness in war crime tribunal is a convicted thief!

WAR CRIME TRIAL
Witness disclosing embarrassing facts 
It comes as a surprise that the complaint of the high profile case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi before the war crime tribunal is a convicted thief. He was accused of and then sentenced to imprisonment in a robbery case for breaking into the house of a member of the Hindu community in his neighbourhood in the Najirpur upazila of Pirojpur district along with some others.
The man Mahbubul Alam Hawlader who filed the case in 2009 after 38 years of the liberation war on charge of crime against humanity is also now on bail in yet another case by his first wife on charges of violence against woman and demand for dowry.

Full Story It comes as a surprise that the complaint of the high profile case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi before the war crime tribunal is a convicted thief. He was accused of and then sentenced to imprisonment in a robbery case for breaking into the house of a member of the Hindu community in his neighbourhood in the Najirpur upazila of Pirojpur district along with some others.
The man Mahbubul Alam Hawlader who filed the case in 2009 after 38 years of the liberation war on charge of crime against humanity is also now on bail in yet another case by his first wife on charges of violence against woman and demand for dowry.
An executive council member and three times elected MP from a Pirojpur constituency, Sayedee has been indicted on 20 counts of crimes against humanity at the International Crimes Tribunal set up to deal with such offences during Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971. His alleged crimes include murder, rape, loot and arson.
During the questioning by the defence lawyers in the tribunal, the complaint said he was a freedom fighter and had worked as the chief intelligence gathering agent for the freedom fighters in the district at that time. But the questioning revealed that he was only a 12 year minor at that time raising the question whether his claims were credible at all. How a minor boy could discharge such risky duty to cover military operations and gather secret information?
On further questioning Hawlader said he did not have the habit of reading newspapers at that time and but did not know the names of peace committee members of the district and the local upazilas. Neither could he recollect who were his immediate boss and other persons in the network. More interestingly, he has failed to name the place or the camp where he was trained as an intelligence gathering agent.
He told the court early last week that as a freedom fighter he is now living on state allowances. His second wife is also receiving state allowance to manage a square meal for the family members.
During the questioning on last Wednesday doubts further deepened on his claim as a freedom fighter. He told the court that he was not on the list of the freedom fighter until the last BNP government gave him the accreditation card. Further disclosures in the court showed when the present Awami League government came to power local party supporters submitted written objections to the incumbent MP Abdul Awal against Hawlader’s inclusion on the list of freedom fighters. The Lawmaker had then stopped his allowances which he was receiving as a freedom fighter on verbal instructions to the concerned authorities.
This prompted the defence lawyers to question whether under the circumstances he struck a deal with the administration by agreeing to file the case against Maulana Sayeedi as a war crime accused in return of his government allowances. Hawlader however turned down the suggestion as not true.
However, during the questioning it was revealed that complaint was a poor person living from hand to mouth. He managed to enlist his name as a freedom fighter during the last BNP government when Maulana Sayeedi was the local lawmaker.
Sayeedi had also twice recommended his petitions to the district deputy commissioner – once for financial assistance and subsequently to help him out to get some CI sheets to make roof of his house.
On questioning how he could turn against the man who has helped him so much, he said he did not personally approach him for those recommendations. Local Freedom Fighters Command secured the recommendations and Sayedi did his job as the local MP.
He had no credible answer on a question as to why he did not file the case against Sayeedi until last year.
The defence lawyers said after the liberation war when around 300 persons were sued for their involvement in war crimes, why he had not sued him at that time. He had no answer.
The defence lawyers said Sayeedi was the three times elected MP from the same Pirojpur constituency where he won the election every time with huge margin. Most freedom fighters had also worked for him in his electioneering process. Nobody had ever raised the question of his involvement in war crimes. He had even secured landslide margin in the village polling centre of the present Awami League MP as an honest credible person.
The defence lawyers are holding the cross examination of the complaint in the case with their arguments focused on proving that as a fraud and thief, the complaint has brought the case against Maulana Sayeedi on the prompting of the Awami League government.
He is a victim of conspiracy, they wanted to say. The cross examination may continue for some more days.
It is interesting to note that the prosecutions had opposed the disclosure of the contents of the petitions of Hawlader to district deputy commissioner in which he described himself as a poor man to justify his prayer for help. Earlier they had also raised objections on dealing with his personal profile.
The court however allowed the defence to continue these questioning despite objection from the prosecution however saying that any irrelevant sections will be expunged formal the records.

Weekly Holiday

Ex-chief of Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party jailed pending trial on war crimes charges

By Associated Press, Published: January 11

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A tribunal ordered the former chief of Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party jailed Wednesday pending trial on charges he instigated deadly rampages against civilians during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Ghulam Azam, 89, a regional chief of Jamaat-e-Islami during the war and later the party’s leader in Bangladesh, is accused of having command-level authority in attacks — including slayings, arson, rape and looting — by then-Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators on people in what was then eastern Pakistan.

The International Crimes Tribunal in the capital, Dhaka, denied Azam’s request for bail Wednesday and ordered him jailed while awaiting a trial, which is expected by next year.
Azam denies the charges, and his supporters say the case against him is politically motivated. Trying the 1971 war crimes is a challenge for the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in part because many of the key defendants are her bitter political enemies.
International groups, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, have urged the Bangladesh to ensure war crimes defendants receive fair trials by clarifying the definition of charges and allowing the accused to question the tribunal’s impartiality — currently not allowed under Bangldeshi law.
Despite Azam’s retirement from Jamaat-e-Islami in 2000, he is still thought to be the de facto leader of the party, a fierce rival of the ruling Awami League party led by Hasina, who is the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Jamaat-e-Islami is a key partner of a political alliance led by former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia. Two leaders of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party face similar charges.
Azam went into exile after Pakistani soldiers surrendered to a joint force led by India on Dec. 16, 1971 and returned in 1978. He became party chief in 1991.
Azam arrived at Wednesday’s hearing in a wheelchair and his lawyer, Abdur Razzaq, said he had sought bail citing health complications. He said the denial of bail was wrong, and noted that Bangladeshi law related to the war crimes trial does not allow the defense to challenge the ruling in a higher court during the trial process.
But any person convicted for war crimes will be able to appeal the final verdict of the tribunal in the Supreme Court.
The three-judge panel, created by Hasina’s government in March 2010, also set Feb. 15 for a hearing on charges for a possible indictment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/ex-chief-of-bangladeshs-largest-islamic-party-jailed-pending-trial-on-war-crimes-charges/2012/01/11/gIQAperAqP_story.html

BNP wants the War Crimes Tribunal to be stopped at once as it is biased

The main opposition BNP yesterday demanded that the government immediately stop the proceedings of the war crimes tribunal.

The party also called on the international community to raise objections to what it said was the tribunal's violation of human rights in an extra-judicial manner.

The world, it said, must put pressure on the government to fulfil the commitments Bangladesh had made through signing international covenants on crimes against humanity.

Flanked by senior party leaders, former law minister Moudud Ahmed read out the demands at a press conference at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters in the capital.

"The BNP has no confidence in this tribunal. It believes that in the existing legal structure, the tribunal is nothing but a servile, rubber-stamp organisation," he said in a written statement.

Moudud observed that it made no sense to legitimise the tribunal's “illegal and unconstitutional trial proceedings by participating in its farcical activities to victimise political opponents”.

Referring to the recommendations of Stephen Rapp, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, the opposition lawmaker said, "We agree with the recommendations. The tribunal cannot be independent and transparent without implementation of those suggestions."

He then cited some of the recommendations Ambassador Rapp made during his Dhaka tour: the tribunal should define the crimes against humanity; an individual accused of war crimes should get the same time and support as the accused in other cases get to defend themselves; the trial proceedings should be broadcast on television and radio; and foreign lawyers should be allowed in as consultants.

The opposition party also demanded immediate release of its lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, who has been detained on charges of crimes against humanity.

Moudud said, "Salauddin believes it will amount to an extra-judicial killing if he is condemned to death by a biased and one-sided tribunal, depriving him of the fundamental rights he has like any other citizen."

The BNP leader claimed Salauddin had sent 23 applications to the tribunal from jail. While some of those applications had been lying at the Gazipur deputy commissioner's office, the rest had disappeared without trace.

Besides, he said, the tribunal had taken the charges against Salauddin into cognisance in his absence and without giving him any notice. It only had discussions with the prosecution.

Moudud maintained that his party too wanted the “real war criminals” to be tried under the existing laws of the land. However, that trial would have to be conducted though a transparent and impartial legal process, and there must not be any doubt in the public mind about the modalities of the trial.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and members of the party's national standing committee were among those present at the press conference.

source

A War Crimes Court and a Travesty of Justice

by – NYTimes.com

DHAKA, Bangladesh — On the fourth floor of a nondescript pale-blue government building in Old Dhaka, clerks are stapling together copies of depositions from witnesses to the crimes committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of secession from Pakistan — a conflict that may have killed up to three million people, according to the Bangladeshi government. Above them on the wall is a map showing the 11 sectors of what was then called East Pakistan.

Strdel/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDelwar Hossain Sayedee, a leading cleric of Bangladesh’s Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, at the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka in November.

In the office next door sits Abdul Hannan Khan, the chief investigator for the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh, a court set up by the Bangladeshi government in March 2010 to “try and punish any individual or group of individuals, or any member of any armed, defence or auxiliary forces, irrespective of his nationality” who committed crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes, among other things, in 1971. Khan, a former police inspector general, is an affable man, in control and in no rush, who seems remarkably uninterested in politics. He says that his agency has finished investigating seven people. On Nov. 20th, the first of them, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party opposed to Bangladesh’s independence, was charged with a slew of crimes. He will soon be joined in the dock by nearly the entire Jamaat leadership, including its former chief, the 89-year old Ghulam Azam, and two prominent members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

No trial has yet taken place, but it already seems clear that the International Crimes Tribunal is an international tribunal in name only. Its exclusive focus on the Bangladeshis who bloodied their hands assisting the main perpetrators — the Pakistani military — makes the court look like an government appendage eager to settle a domestic score. Trying and punishing members of the former Pakistani Army is too sensitive politically for the current Bangladeshi government to even contemplate: it could cause a complete breakdown in relations with Pakistan. It would also be impractical, because there is no extradition treaty between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

More arrests are sure to follow. Khan is investigating 10 other suspected collaborators, including another six members of the Jamaat and two of the BNP. There is also Ashrafuzzaman Khan, an American, and Moinuddin Chowdhury, a British citizen, both alleged leaders of the pro-army paramilitary body called Al Badr, which massacred Bengali intellectuals in December 1971. Khan says that Khan lives in New York and Chowdhury in “UK, London.” Their being far away might seem like a serious obstacle, but according to one political analyst (who wishes not to be identified), even those cases will be a “slam dunk” because the two men will probably be tried — and convicted — in absentia.

The tribunal is shaping up to be a travesty of justice. The government seems to be using the court simply to rubberstamp a predetermination that the accused are guilty. For most Bangladeshis, that truth has been established since 1995, when a self-appointed panel of eminent citizens, headed by the current justice minister, compiled “evidence” of war crimes against 16 individuals, including the seven men currently awaiting trial before the International Crimes Tribunal. The Jamaat members’ defense team has asked one of the judges to step down because he sat on the 1995 panel. If, as is nonetheless expected, nearly the entire leadership of the Jamaat is convicted and hanged within two years, the Bangladeshi opposition will be conveniently weakened in time for the next parliamentary election in 2013.

Such a nakedly partisan exercise of justice would make it much harder for an accurate history of Bangladesh’s birth to ever be written. According to M. A. Hasan, of the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, an independent body investigating the 1971 massacres, 95 percent of the atrocities were committed by Pakistani soldiers who resisted secession — and were under orders to kill to prevent it — on the theory that the Islamic unity of the two wings of Pakistan must not be compromised.

Yet none of them will be in court. Nor will any member of the pro-independence militias be charged for massacring tens of thousands of Bihari migrants who sympathized with Pakistan. The current list of accused looks so conveniently expedient for the Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that for the sake of appearance alone Hasina might have better served herself, and Bangladesh, by making a greater show of endorsing an independent war crimes trial subject to international standards. The defense teams do count some high-caliber international lawyers, but the government has effectively barred them from being present in court by making it hard for them to even get into the country.

In the midst of all the politicking, Hasan has somehow managed to adopt an impartial position. A few years back, he submitted to the government a list of 1,775 suspected war criminals, including the accused currently on trial but also collaborators from the Awami League’s coalition partners and members of the former Pakistani military. At the end of a visit to his office last Tuesday, during which he bemoaned continued impunity, Hasan produced what he called a “genocide map” of Dhaka. It showed 48 mass graves, with latitudes and longitudes.

source:http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/a-war-crimes-court-and-a-travesty-of-justice/

যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইবুনাল থেকে সুবিচার পাওয়ার সুযোগ নেই : ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক

বাংলাদেশে যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিচার প্রক্রিয়া এবং ট্রাইবুনালের বিচারপতির প্রতি অভিযুক্তদের অনাস্থা এবং যুদ্ধাপরাধ সম্পর্কিত’ আইনের নানা দিক নিয়ে আমরা কথা বলেছি, বাংলাদেশের বিশিষ্ট আইনজীবী ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাকের সাথে।
পূর্ণাঙ্গ সাক্ষাৎকারটি এখানে উপস্থাপন করা হল

রেডিও তেহরান : যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইবুনাল নিয়ে এমনকি গোটা বিচার প্রক্রিয়া নিয়ে ইতিমধ্যে অনেকেই কথা বলছেন। প্রধান বিরোধী দল বিএনপি’র নেত্রী বেগম খালেদা জিয়া বিচার প্রক্রিয়া নিয়ে প্রশ্ন তুলেছেন, তো আমরা জানতে চাচ্ছি, কেন এবং সুনির্দিষ্ট কোন কোন বিষয়ের কারণে ট্রাইবুনাল এবং বিচার প্রক্রিয়া নিয়ে প্রশ্ন উঠছে?

ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক :দেখুন, যুদ্ধাপরাধ বিষয়ক ট্রাইবুনালের বিচার প্রক্রিয়া নিয়ে কয়েকটি কারণে প্রশ্ন উঠেছে।
প্রথমত : বলা যায়, যে আইনের মাধ্যমে বিচার প্রক্রিয়া অনুষ্ঠিত হচ্ছে সেই আইন আন্তর্জাতিক মানের অনেক নীচে। শুধু আন্তর্জাতিক মানের অনেক নীচেই না ; বাংলাদেশে যেসব আইন রয়েছে বা আন্তর্জাতিক যেসব আইনে বাংলাদেশ স্বাক্ষর করেছে সেসব আইনেরও অনেকে নীচে এই আইন।
দ্বিতীয়ত: হচ্ছে বাংলাদেশে বহুবিধ আইন আছে, যেমন- বাংলাদেশের সংবিধান আছে, এছাড়া বাংলাদেশের সাক্ষ্য আইন আছে,ফৌজদারী কার্যবিধি আছে। এসব আইন আমাদের দেশের আইন। এই আইনগুলোও এখানে প্রযোজ্য নয়। সুতরাং এই যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইবুনালে; না আন্তর্জাতিক আইন না দেশীয় আইন; কোনটাই প্রযোজ্য নয়। ফলে এই ট্রাইবুনালে সুবিচার পাওয়া যাবে না ; এখানে বিচারের নামে অবিচার হবে।
এছাড়া এই ট্রাইবুনালে যে তিনজনকে বিচারক হিসেবে নিয়োগ করা হয়েছে, তার মধ্যে যিনি ট্রাইবুনালের প্রধান হিসেবে আছেন,অর্থাৎ বিচারপতি নিজামুল হক- তিনি এ বিষয়ে যখন ইনভেস্টিগেট হয় তখন তার সংগে জড়িত ছিলেন। সুতরাং একজন ব্যক্তি যিনি ইনভেস্টিগেটর ছিলেন তিনি জাজ বা বিচারক হতে পারেন না। আর এ বিষয়টি আন্তর্জাতিকভাবে স্বীকৃত। সমাজতান্ত্রিক দেশগুলোতেও এই আইন স্বীকৃত । ফলে একজন ইনভেস্টিগেটর যেখানে বিচারক এবং ট্রাইবুনালের প্রধান হিসেবে কাজ করেন সেখানে এই ট্রাইবুনালের কাছে তো কোন বিচার পাওয়া যাবে না।
যদি এখানে বিচার নিশ্চিত করতে হয় তাহলে আন্তর্জাতিক সম্প্রদায়ের সম্পৃক্ততা থাকতে হবে। আমি আগেও এ সম্পর্কে বলেছি যে, ৫ টি মহাদেশ থেকে ১৫ জন বিচারক আনা হোক, ট্রাইবুনালের আইনকে আন্তর্জাতিক পর্যায়ে উন্নীত করা হোক, আইনকে জনসমক্ষে উন্মুক্ত করা হোক,সরকার পক্ষ ও অভিযুক্ত পক্ষ উভয়ের জন্য বিদেশী আইনজীবী আনার সুযোগ দেয়া হোক। যদি এসব করা হয় তাহলে বিচার হতে পারে । তা নাহলে এখানে বিচার হবে না। সুবিচার পাবে না অভিযুক্তরা।

রেডিও তেহরান : আচ্ছা ট্রাইবুনালের বিচারপতি নিজামুল হকের প্রতি মাওলানা সাঈদী যে অনাস্থা জ্ঞাপন করেছেন, তা দুই বারই আদালতে খারিজ হয়ে গেছে। আসলে আইনে কি আছে? একজন যদি কোন বিচারকের উপর অনাস্থার কথা বলে, তাহলে বাংলাদেশের আইন অনুযায়ী সে ক্ষেত্রে বিচার বিভাগ বা সরকার কি পদক্ষেপ নিতে পারে ।

ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক : দেখুন, এটি খুবই দু:খজনক বিষয়। বাংলাদেশের বিচার বিভাগ কিন্তু নতুন সৃষ্টি হয়নি। এখানে ১৮৬২ সালে হাইকোর্ট ও সুপ্রীমকোর্ট হয়েছে। এটি দীর্ঘদিনের ইতিহাস। আর তখন থেকেই একটি নিয়ম চলে আসছে যে, কোন একজন বিচারপতিকে বিশেষ করে হাইকোর্টের বিচারপতিকে নিয়ে যদি কেউ প্রশ্ন তোলে যে আপনি একজন আইনজীবী হিসেবে ছিলেন এই বিচার কার্যে বা কোন কারণে অনাস্থা আনা হয় তাহলে সাথে সাথে তিনি বা সেই বিচারপতি বিচার কাজ থেকে নিজেকে উইদড্রো করে নেন। মামলাটি সাথে সাথে অন্য বিচারকের কাছে পাঠিয়ে দেন। ট্রাইবুনালের বিচারপতি নিজামুল হক নাসিম; তিনিও হাইকোর্টের একজন বিচারপতি, তিনিও বিষয়টি জানেন। এটি কিন্তু একটি অত্যন্ত সাধারণ বিষয় যা আমাদের আদালত প্রাঙ্গণে হয়ে থাকে। আমাদের হাইকোর্ট সুপ্রীম কোর্টের বারান্দায় যারা ঘোরাফেরা করে তারাও এ বিষয়টি জানে। তারপরও একজন অভিযুক্ত যখন নিজামুল হকের বিরুদ্ধে অনাস্থা আনলেন তারপরও তিনি সেখানেই আছেন। তবে এটি প্রতিষ্ঠিত সত্য যে তার ব্যাপারে প্রশ্ন তোলা বা অনাস্থাজ্ঞাপনের পর তিনি আর এই বিচারকাজ পরিচালনা করতে পারেন না। হি ইজ সিমপলি ডিসকোয়ালিফাইড।

রেডিও তেহরান : এসব কিছুর পর এই ট্রাইবুনাল যদি মাওলানা সাঈদীকে শাস্তি দেয় তাহলে আইনের দৃষ্টিতে তা কতখানী গ্রহণযোগ্য হবে?

ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক : দেখুন আপনি যে প্রশ্নটি করলেন, যে মাওলানা সাঈদীর অনাস্থা সম্পর্কিত আবেদন বা বিচারপতির বৈধতা নিয়ে করা আবেদন খারিজ করার পরও যদি এই ট্রাইবুনাল মাওলানা দেলোয়ার হোসেন সাঈদীকে শাস্তি দেয় তাহলে তা আইনের দৃষ্টিতে কি হবে ? এ প্রসঙ্গে আমি বলব সেই রায় মোটেও গ্রহণযোগ্য হবে না । দেশীয় আইনেও গ্রহণ যোগ্য হবে না, আন্তর্জাতিক আইনেও গ্রহণযোগ্য হবে না।

রেডিও তেহরান: আচ্ছা বর্তমানে যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইবুনাল থেকে যে রায় হবে তার বিরুদ্ধে কি উচ্চ আদালতে আপিল করার সুযোগ আছে কি না ?

ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক : আপনি খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় এখানে প্রশ্ন করেছেন। সাধারণত আদালতের কোন একটি রায়ের পর উচ্চ আদালতে আপিলের সুযোগ থাকে। কিন্তু যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইবুনাল থেকে রায়ের পর তার বিরুদ্ধে উচ্চ আদালতে আপিল করার কোনো সুযোগ আমাদের নেই। আর এ সুযোগ না থাকার কারণে এই আইনটিকে কালো আইন হিসেবে অভিহিত করছি ।
দেখুন কোন বিচারের ক্ষেত্রে যেটি হয়ে থাকে-সেটি হচ্ছে সব বিচার কাজ যখন শেষ হয়ে যায় যখন শাস্তি ঘোষণা করা হয় তখন ফাইনালি একবার সুপ্রীমকোর্টে যাওয়ার সুযোগ থাকে। কিন্তু এখানে সে সুযোগ নেই। ফলে এটি একটি কালো আইন।

রেডিও তেহরান : আচ্ছা গোটা যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিচার প্রক্রিয়া এবং ট্রাইবুনালের কার্যক্রমকে আপনি কিভাবে দেখছেন ?

ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক :গোটা যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিচার প্রক্রিয়া এবং ট্রাইবুনালের কার্যক্রম নিয়ে আমি বলব, এখানে আমরা বিচার পাব না, সুবিচার পেতে পারি না। তবে আমরা একটা জিনিষিই চাই যে সুবিচার হোক, সুবিচার হোক এবং সুবিচার হোক।

রেডিও তেহরান : বিএনপির সংসদ সদস্য সালাহউদ্দীন কাদের চৌধুরী বলেছেন, সংবিধান লংঘন করে এই ট্রাইবুনাল গঠন করা হয়েছে। এছাড়া এই ট্রাইবুনাল নিজেও আইন মানছে না। আপনি একজন বিশিষ্ট আইনজীবী হিসেবে সালাহ উদ্দীন কাদের চৌধুরীর এই বক্তব্যকে কিভাবে দেখছেন?

ব্যারিস্টার আব্দুর রাজ্জাক : সালাহউদ্দীন কাদের চৌধুরী যে কথা বলেছেন সেটি একটি বিষয়। আমাদের কথা হচ্ছে সংবিধান অনুযায়ী এই বিচার হচ্ছে না ।মানুষের মৌলিক অধিকার হরণের ক্ষমতা কারো নেই।দেশের যে কোন ব্যক্তিকে যদি বিচারের কাঠগড়ায় নেয়া হয় এবং তার যদি সেখানে মৌলিক অধিকার ক্ষুন্ন হয় তাহলে সে হাইকোর্টে বা সুপ্রীম কোর্টে যেতে পারে । কিন্তু এই ট্রাইবুনালে সেরকম কোনো সুবিধা কারো নেই।

Protest of Barrister Abdur Razzaq against the news titled “Barrister Razzaq is also being Investigated for War Crimes” published in Amader Shomoi

Barrister Abdur Razzaq, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and also the Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has formally protested against the news item published on 11th December 2011 in the Daily Amader Shomoy, a Bangla language daily newspaper published from Dhaka under the title “Barrister Abdur Razzaq is also being Investigated for War Crimes ”.

In his protest, Mr Razzaq stated that a certain quarter has been active in a smear campaign against him with the view to harassing and humiliating him. This campaign started soon after he took over the onerous task of defending five top leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami who are accused of war crimes before the International Crimes Tribunal, Dhaka. In his note of protest, Barrister Razzaq asserted that it is his fundamental right guaranteed by and under the Constitution of Bangladesh, to perform his professional duties by defending people accused of committing crimes. However, a powerful section within the administration is active in preventing him from discharging his professional responsibilities. Despite all odds, Barrister Razzaq expressed his determination to perform his professional duties without any fear.

The news item referring to International Crimes Tribunal sources, reported that the Investigation Agency is conducting an investigation against Barrister Abdur Razzaq, who is the chief defence counsel for the leaders of Jamaat who are facing war crimes charges. It may be mentioned that in the past attempts have been made to implicate Barrister Razzaq in various criminal proceedings including a criminal proceeding arising out of an incident that took place in Dhaka in September while he was in Europe.

Mir Ahmad BinQuasem

Barrister-at-Law

Associate of Barrister Abdur Razzaq

http://www.martindale.com/Mir-Ahmad-BinQuasem/41459598-lawyer.htm

Protest Note Barrister Razzaq Investigation War Crimes.pdf

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.

Senator John Boozman Strongly Criticizes War Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh

Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal : A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? - Steven Kay QC

The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 was amended to become the International Crimes (Tribunals) (Amendment) Act 2009. It created a Tribunal “for the detention, prosecution and punishment of persons for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under international law” and imported internationally recognized crimes into the laws of Bangladesh.



(a) Jurisdiction

Section 3 gives the Tribunal jurisdiction over crimes committed before or after the commencement of the Act[OB11] .

By section 3(1) A tribunal shall have the power to try and punish any individual or group of individuals, or any member of any armed, defence or auxiliary forces, irrespective of his nationality, who commits or has committed, in the territory of Bangladesh, whether before of after the commencement of this Act, any of the crimes mentioned in subsection (2).





Bangladesh First Constitutional Amendments 1973



Article 47 (3) was introduced into the Constitution in 1973 and provided[OB12] that members of armed, defence or auxillary forces or prisoners of war detained or charged under any law or provision with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or other crimes of international law which was inconsistent or repugnant to the Constitution, those laws or provisions could not be challenged as being void or unlawful.[3] This amendment had the effect of withdrawing constitutional rights from a particular group of people within Bangladesh society who were not even convicted but at the most were only suspected of such crimes and who could have been detained without the requirement of suspicion.[4] These crimes were international crimes which did not previously exist within the Bangladesh criminal laws and were being imported to deal with events arising from the war of independence as part of the doctrine of universality of such crimes.



Under newly introduced Constitution Article 47A(1)[5] other[OB13] guaranteed constitutional rights were also explicitly withdrawn from such people.[6] These were the rights given[OB14] to every citizen of the protection of the law; the universal right of nullem crimen sine lege[OB15] (no crime without there being a law in force at the time); and the right to an expeditious trial by[OB16] an independent and impartial court or tribunal. By new Article 47A(2)[7] these[OB17] persons detained or suspected or charged were also specifically denied the right to seek remedies available under the Constitution from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.



The overall effect of these measures was to put persons questioned, detained, suspected of committing crimes or charged with crimes within the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 outside the norms of the national legal system. For[OB18] the first time inequality had been introduced into the Bangladesh justice system by the Constitution that claimed to promote equality.





The Crimes in section 3(2)(a) these are defined as being[OB19] :

Crimes against Humanity namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, abduction, confinement, torture, rape or other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population or persecutions on political, racial, ethnic or religious grounds, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated;

Crimes against Peace namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;



Genocide meaning and including any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, religious or political group, such as:

(i) killing members of the group;

(ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to

bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(iv) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(v) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group;



War Crimes namely, violation of laws or customs of war which include but are not limited to murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labour or for any other purpose of civilian population in the territory of Bangladesh; murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages and detenues, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity;

Violation of Geneva Conventions of 1949 of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid down in the Conventions;

Any other crimes under international law;

Attempt, abetment or conspiracy to commit any such crimes;

Complicity in or failure to prevent commission of any such crimes.

The crimes within Section 3 have been defined by many international courts since 1993 when the UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia[8]. This was the first of the many international criminal courts and tribunals that have now been established and the definitions of these crimes have been more carefully revised from the model of the Nuremberg Charter from which the ICTAA 2009 is derived.[9]

By Presidential Order No.16 of 1973, the[OB20] liberating forces were given immunity from prosecution under the ICTA 1973. The objects of the prosecutions were thereby defined as being only those from the Pakistan forces. The[OB21] amendments to the Act in 2009 did not incorporate the Presidential decree so as to show with transparency the full terms of this statute. This is a clear attempt to hoodwink the international community into believing these are impartial laws. In fact, there can be no clearer indication of the intention to apply these legal procedures in a discriminatory way and in defiance of the constitutional duties to equality.[10]

(b) Liability for crimes

Section 4 sets out the definition of joint criminal liability and command responsibility[OB22] .

As to joint liability it does not distinguish between offence and crime and so the extent of intended criminal liability is unclear:



4. (1) When any crime as specified in section 3 is committed by several persons, each of such person is liable for that crime in the same manner as if it were done by him alone.



In relation to command responsibility the level of knowledge when connected with “plans and activities involving the commission of such crimes” is also unclear.



4. (2) Any commander or superior officer who orders, permits[OB23] ,

acquiesces or participates in the commission of any of the crimes

specified in section 3 or is connected with any plans and activities

involving the commission of such crimes or who fails or omits to

discharge his duty to maintain discipline, or to control or supervise

the actions of the persons under his command or his subordinates,

whereby such persons or subordinates or any of them commit any

such crimes, or who fails to take necessary measures to prevent the

commission of such crimes, is guilty of such crimes.

(c) Official Position [OB24]

5. (1) The official position, at any time, of an accused shall not be considered freeing him from responsibility or mitigating punishment.

(2) The fact that the accused acted pursuant to his domestic law or to order of his Government or of a superior shall not free him from responsibility, but[OB25] may be considered in mitigation of punishment if the Tribunal deems that justice so requires.

(d) The Tribunal

6. (1) For the purpose of section 3, the Government may, by notification in the[OB26] 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.

(4) 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.

(5) 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.

(6) 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.

(8) 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.

Conflicts of interest or bias or prejudice or bad behavior of any Judge may not be raised by the parties in order to challenge the fairness and impartiality of the trial. The Bangladesh Constitution Article 35(3) which was in accordance with ICCPR Article 14.1 and UDHR Article 10 giving the right to be tried by an independent and impartial court or tribunal was amended in 1973 so that this right was withdrawn from these cases.[11] New Articles 47(3) or 47A(2) of the Constitution prevents challenge in the Supreme Court to enforce rights normally within the Constitution. These restrictions are also relevant to ICTAA 2009 sections 6(4), 6(5) and 6(6) which permits proceedings to continue notwithstanding the absence of a Judge as well as the substitution of a Judge in the event of indisposition due to death or illness.[12] It is very clear that such arrangements during an ongoing trial may raise genuine issues of capacity for a Judge to be able to try a case fairly in such circumstances. It would at least be in the interests of justice for the court to provide justification and be held accountable for any decisions it made under these provisions

The lack of right to challenge and inability to request the Tribunal to be accountable for its conduct at the time of the trial can also be seen in ICTAA 2009 section 10(h), which restricts the rights of parties to object or question a witness questioned by a Judge.[13] A party may have good grounds for objection to the conduct or action of the Tribunal which may be unfair – for instance if a question contrary to rules of evidence, is unfair, wrong in fact, irrelevant to the issues or misleading to the witness or capable of misinterpretation.

(e) Investigation[OB27]

8. (5) Such person shall be bound to answer all questions put to him[OB28]

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.

Although section 8.5[14] restricts the effect of such questioning to the provision of information, as it is now 40 years since the events concerned there can be no justification based upon national emergency to support such a rule. The[OB29] Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure section 161 (2), provides for protection against self-incrimination within the national criminal law of Bangladesh and this is an example of the divergent standards of justice.[15]

(f) Commencement of Proceedings

Download powerpoint presentation version :

A STUDY ON HUMAN AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS SITUATION IN BANGLADESH ( 27th June to 13th July, 2010)

INTRODUCTION


Human rights situation has been worsening day by day alarmingly. From bureaucracy to professionals, public procurement to conducting of public examination, politicization and criminalization are going rampantly everywhere. Various institutions are objected to malfunctioning at political will causing further deterioration of institutionalization contrary to the good governance and a healthy culture. Lax law enforcement panics people. Victims not going police for harassment fear moreover police are being used as political tools to suppress the opposition. After the first countrywide strike of the opposition parties on 27th June government showed nude face to the nation and started state violence to the people and opposition. A brief account on human rights and constitutional rights violation in last 16 days are given below.

More than 4 thousands opposition leaders and activists were arrested in last16 days including top BNP and Jamaat leaders, besides thousnads of activists have been assaulted and injured by police and Bangladesh chattra League the student wing of Awami League. In the name of hurting the religious sentiment, on 29th June, police arrested Jamaat e Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammod Mujahid, and Nayebe Ameer Maolana Delawar Hossain Saidee. All three were arrested in connection with a flimsy case filed by an Awami League activist in which he accused them of hurting religious sentiment referring to the Prophet of Islam. The fact is that neither Maulana Nzami, nor Mujahidi was present at that seminar in which Jamat's city Ameer made the comment. The event was organized by its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir. The next day when the three were produced before the magistrate they were granted bail but the police immediately showed them arrested in connection with about half a dozen cases and sought remand for varying periods. The court allowed 16 days remand for each of them in cases which include some war crime related cases, besides the murder of a Rajshahi University student a few months ago.
How ever, in the name of provoking the vandalism of vehicles and firing flame before 27th June daylong countrywide strike (hartal) police sent to custody some BNP top leader including Mirza Abbas, Somser Mobin Choudhury, Shahid Uddin Choudhury Anee, and some BNP activists. Interestingly, everyone was arrested first on a simple case but within a short period of time police made half a dozen cases to the leaders and showed them shown arrest. It is published in all the dailies and electronics media that they are being tortured in custody.
During the opposition party human chain on 7th July one person was killed in Naogaon and more than 100 were injured across the country as the law enforcers charged with truncheons at opposition Party activists at the various places.The law enforcers also picked up more than a hundred leaders and activists, including the BNP’s central leader Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, also the Jatiyatbadi Juba Dal president, as they tried to form human chains in protest at attack on and arrest of its leaders and activists during its general strike on June 27. Enamul Haq Omar, general secretary of the Baragacha Juba Dal at Raninagar, died after the police had chased the leaders and activists when they were forming a human chain at Tajermore in the Naogaon town in the morning. Within three hours of High court order not to arrest the Jamaat leaders, violating the order of High Court police arrested two assistant secretary general of Jamaat Islami Md Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Kader Molla on 13th July from the High Court area.


A BREIF ACCOUNT OF HR VIOLATIONS FROM 27TH JUNE TO 13TH JULY


27TH JUNE, 2010


Chaatra League activist attacks on BNP lawmaker Shahid Uddin Choudhury Anny on 27th June during countrywide day long strike (hartal) under the protection of police at Shahbag area in Dhaka city. Photo; the Daily Kalerkantha 28/06/2010


BNP's Vice Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a freedom fighter, and former foreign secretary of Bangladesh is arrested. Photo: The Weekly Holiday 9th July

BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas is arrested
Police assaulted a woman in the residence of Mirza Abbas
Chhatra League activist beating BNP lawmaker under the protection of police
Photo: the Daily Nayadiganta 28/06/2010

Law enforcing agency assaulting a woman in the residence of BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas on 27th June. Photo: The Weekly Holiday 02/07/2010

Woman is being assaulted by police
• Opposition activist is assaulted and arrested
• BNP lawmaker is injured by the assault of BCL and he is brought to hospital
• Police through gas to the activists


30TH JUNE, 2010Top Bangladesh Jaamat Islami leaders were arrested on 29th June on the charge of a flimsy case. Photo; The Daily Sangram 30/06/2010

01ST JULY, 2010
The next day when the three were produced before the magistrate they were granted bail but the police immediately showed them arrested in connection with about half a dozen cases and sought remand for varying periods. The court allowed 16 days remand for each of them in cases which include some war crime related cases, besides the murder of a Rajshahi University student a few months ago. Photo: the Daily Sangram 01/07/2010

Police action against Jaamat procession in Dhaka city; Photo: The Daily Sangram, 01/07/2010


03RD JULY, 2010
Police arrested the Shibir activist from a peaceful procession, Photo: The Daily Nayadiganta 04/07/2010





07TH JULY, 2010

•Police assaulted and arrested the women activists of BNP from a peaceful human chain on 07th July against the arrest of BNP top leaders and activists. Photo: The Daily Jugantar 08/07/2010


Police arrested the activists of Bangladesh Islami chaatra shibir in such a way which is totally anti human. They were arrested from a living mess of Barishal division. Photo: The Daily Nayadiganta 08/07/2010

Police action against peaceful human chain which was observed against government’s political violences.
• Inset photograph of a BNP leader killed on 07th Human chain
Section -1

Some photographs of human chain




Section 1
VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

• Torture in custody
Extracting confessional statement is a severe violation of human rights as well as of the UN Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or Punishment, that Bangladesh ratified the on October 5, 1998. Political leaders are being tortured in the custody. Jaamat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mujahid and Nayebe Ameer Maolana Delwar Hossian Sayedee alleged that they were tortured nine days continuously in remand period and could not take rest due to the torture of police in custody. (The Daily Nayadiganta, 11/07/2010) About one thousand leaders and activists of opposition were arrested and detained in last 16 days.

• Torture by law enforcing agencies
Enamul Haq Omar, general secretary of the Baragacha Juba Dal at Raninagar, died after the police had chased the leaders and activists when they were forming a human chain at Tajermore in the Naogaon town in the morning.Witnesses said Omar had fallen down on the road when the law enforcers chased the BNP activists about 11:30am. He was then taken to a private hospital where he died later. (The Daily New Age, 8th July, 2010). Law enforcing agencies especially RAB and police severely tortured household people in the residence of BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas on 27th June. Thousands of opposition party leaders, activists and general people were tortured by the law enforcing agencies in whole country from 27th June. “Referring to police action at BNP standing Committee member Mirza Abbas home on hartal day former Law minister and a leading Awami League leader advocate Abdul Matin Khasru said he was shocked and ashamed of it as he saw the TV footage in news telecast. In fact RAB personnel carried out the violence inside his home destroying family artifacts and beating women including his old mother now over 75. Suranjit Sen Gupta also took exception to such brutalities when many other critics tend to equate the RAB action with that of the dreaded 'Rakhi Bahihi' which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had set up in early 1970s to destroy the opposition JSD that time. But home minister advocate Sahara Khatun simply downplayed the RAB action saying she was not aware of it although all TV channels repeatedly showed the footage of the violence throughout the day. Five BNP influential leaders including Mirza Abbas, 12 female party activists including ward councilors were among 167 persons whom police, RAB and special branch officials took to custody on the day.” (Faisal Rahim, AL's politics of vengeance, brutalities, Holiday: 2nd July, 2010)

• Law Enforcing agencies are used by the government
BNP called for a totally peaceful human chain formation on Weddnesday to protest against the government's misrule and demand release of its leaders and workers arrested during June 27 hartal. The government, however, responded violently engaging police and partymen to obstruct and attack the opposition programme in Dhaka and other places leaving at least one person killed and more than one hundred persons injured. Enamul Haq Omar, general secretary of the Baragacha Juba Dal at Raninagar, died after the police had attacked the leaders and activists when they were forming a human chain at Tajermore in the Naogaon town in the morning. The BNP's senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press briefing in the party's central office at Naya Paltan said Omar had died in police attack.
The Naogaon police superintendent, Mohammad Mofazzal Hossain, admitted to stopping BNP leaders and activists from forming the human chain but said that 'It was a natural death. He might have died of heat stroke in the hot weather.' Meanwhile, the law enforcers picked up the party's central leader Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, also the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal President, as he tried to form human chains in Sukrabad area in the capital city.
The day's main programme was held in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka where the police did not allow BNP men, led by the opposition chief whip in the parliament, Zainul Abdin Farroque, on the pavement, leading to a scuffle that continued for some time.Policemen in riot gears took position in front of the National Press Club and pushed the activists inside the club. Some allies of the BNP also joined the programme at the National Press Club. Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Mujibur Rahman and Tasnim Alam, Islami Oikya Jote secretary Abdul Latif Nezami, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party president Shafiul Alam Pradhan, and Bangladesh Jaitya Party secretary general Shamim Al Mamun, were at the press club.
At the Supreme Court building, some 50 to 60 BNP-backed lawyers, led by the Supreme Court Bar Council president, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, former parliament speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, and the party's standing committee member Moudud Ahmed formed the human chain and the police immediately cordoned them off. Opposition BNP faced police obstruction to its human chain protests in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet jessore and other places on Wednesday, the party leaders said. The programme was set to start at 11am but police barred the opposition activists in Dhaka in front of the National Press Club, Farmagate, Ittefaq crossing and Shapla intersection in Motijheel.
Police charged baton to disperse hundreds of leaders and activists including BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's adviser Prof M A Mannan, Ahmed Azam Khan, former MP Selim Reza Habib and Juba Dal general secretary Saiful Alam Nirab near Pragati Centre at Farmgate. Forner MP Selim Reza Habib alleged that police obstructed them from standing on the road. "Police charged batons on the demonstrators and picked up four of our activists," he said.
BNP joint secretary general Amanullah Aman, Opposition Chief Whip Zainal Abdin Farroque, Islami Oikya Jote secretary Abdul Latif Nezami, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party president Shafiul Alam Prodhan and Bangladesh Jaitya Party secretary general Shamim Al Mamun took position in front of the main entrance of the National Press Club from 11am. But they were cordoned off by police, Officer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station Rezaul Karim told newsmen that they were ordered not to allow anybody to take position in front of the Press Club.
In Chittagong, BNP leaders and workers were obstructed at Bahddarhat, Agrabad, Dewanhat, Pathantuly, Dampara and Lalkha Bazar. Police used batons to disperse the gathering and arrested about 25 persons. ( The Weekly Holiday, 9th July, 2010 Police obstruct BNP's human chain programme Special Correspondent )


Section-2
POLITICAL VIOLANCE

• The activists of ruling Awami League and its front organisations on midday Sunday ransacked, looted and set ablaze Jamaat office at Hizla upazila town. Maulana Abul Hashem, upazila Amir of Jamaat and Gobindapur union parishad chairman alleged that the activists of AL and its front organisations attacked and set the Jamaat office on fire. He alleged that the activists of the ruling party had taken out a procession in the town led by Hizla upazila chairman and AL secretary Sultan Mahmud Tipu. He said that the activists from that procession attacked the Jamaat office at about 12 noon chanting anti Jamaat slogans. ( The Daily New Age, 05 July, 2010 AL men ransack, set afire Jamaat office at Hizla, Correspondent . Barisal)
• Chaatra League activist attacks on BNP lawmaker Shahid Uddin Choudhury Anny on 27th June during countrywide day long strike (hartal) under the protection of police at Shahbag area in Dhaka city.
• Countrywide vandalism of Awami League leaders and activists against oppositions.
• Awami League leader and Textile and Jute Minister A L Siddiqui inclined BCL to attack opposition activists not to clash among themselves.
• Activists of ruling Awami League (AL) and its front organisations yesterday ransacked and 'set fire' on inventories of Jamaat-e-Islami's Hizla upazila office, alleged the upazila Jamaat Ameer Maulana Abul Hashem.The ruling party men, who brought out a procession demanding trial of war criminals in the town, went on the rampage around 11:00am, he said. (The Daily Star, 5th July, 2010)


SECTION 3.
VIOLATION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS :

The article 38 and 39 of the constitution guarantee any citizen of the state to form a political or an organization and organize political activities in a peaceful manner such act shrink democratic space and create obstacle towards protecting democratic rights. The intention to victimize Bangladesh Jamaate Islami, one of largest political party having around 12% popular vote,is particularly noteworthy. With gross violation to the article, the ruling party governement are hell-bent on harassing and intimidating the opposition BNP and Jamaat leaders by not withdrawing mostly fake and motivated litigations by the military-backed Caretaker Government and terrorising the rival party workers through violent means.


• Politically motivated graft cases :
In the name of hurting the religious sentiment, on 29th June, police arrested Jamaat e Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammod Mujahid, and Nayebe Ameer Maolana Delawar Hossain Saidee. All three were arrested in connection with a flimsy case filed by an Awami League activist in which he accused them of hurting religious sentiment referring to the Prophet of Islam. The fact is that neither Maulana Nzami, nor Mujahidi was present at that seminar in which Jamat's city Ameer made the comment. The event was organized by its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir. The next day when the three were produced before the magistrate they were granted bail but the police immediately showed them arrested in connection with about half a dozen cases and sought remand for varying periods. The court allowed 16 days remand for each of them in cases which include some war crime related cases, besides the murder of a Rajshahi University student a few months ago.
How ever, in the name of provoking the vandalism of vehicles and firing flame before 27th June daylong countrywide strike (hartal) police sent to custody some BNP top leader including Mirza Abbas, Somser Mobin Choudhury, Shahid Uddin Choudhury Anee, and some BNP activists. Interestingly, everyone was arrested first on a simple case but within a short period of time police made half a dozen cases to the leaders and showed them shown arrest. It is published in all the dailies and electronics media that they are being tortured in custody.
During the opposition party human chain on 7th July one person was killed in Naogaon and more than 100 were injured across the country as the law enforcers charged with truncheons at opposition Party activists at the various places.The law enforcers also picked up more than a hundred leaders and activists, including the BNP’s central leader Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, also the Jatiyatbadi Juba Dal president, as they tried to form human chains in protest at attack on and arrest of its leaders and activists during its general strike on June 27. Enamul Haq Omar, general secretary of the Baragacha Juba Dal at Raninagar, died after the police had chased the leaders and activists when they were forming a human chain at Tajermore in the Naogaon town in the morning. Within three hours of High court order not to arrest the Jamaat leaders, violating the order of High Court police arrested two assistant secretary general of Jamaat Islami Md Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Kader Molla on 13th July from the High Court area.

• More than 4 thousand were arrested

• Three thousands shibir men are arrested: In a press briefing of 10 July Islami Cahttro Sibir central president Md Rezaul Karim demanded that since last 27th June Police arrested 3 thousands 47 of their leader s and activists, among them in Dhaka city 516, Chittagong 355, Khulna 75, Sylhet 115, Barisal 55, Rajshahi 305, Nowakhali 65, Sirajgongh 25, Kustia 48, Jinaidah 51, Jessore 65, Satkhira 195, Bagherhat 15, Kisorgong 25, Jalakathi 21, Chapainobabgogn 55, Rangpur 45, Rajbari 94, Faridpur 37, Mymenshing 35, Netrokona 55, Moulovibazar 76, Kumilla 115, Lokkhipur 30, Cox’s Bazar 15, Rangamati 20, Narayongong 45, Chandpur 36, Feni 11, Kurigram 27, Brammonbaria 46, Gazipur 45, Tangail 25, Jamalpur 07, Nator 39, Pabna 56, Nilfamari 47, Narshindi 15, Joypurhat 07 etc.
• One killed, 100 hurt as police attack BNP human chains


One person died in Naogaon and more than 100 were injured across the country as the law enforcers charged with truncheons at opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists at places during the party’s human chain on Wednesday (7th July) .The law enforcers also picked up more than a hundred leaders and activists, including the party’s central leader Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, also the Jatiyatbadi Juba Dal president, as they tried to form human chains in protest at attack on and arrest of its leaders and activists during its general strike on June 27.
Enamul Haq Omar, general secretary of the Baragacha Juba Dal at Raninagar, died after the police had chased the leaders and activists when they were forming a human chain at Tajermore in the Naogaon town in the morning.Witnesses said Omar had fallen down on the road when the law enforcers chased the BNP activists about 11:30am. He was then taken to a private hospital where he died later. The BNP’s senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a briefing in the party’s central office at Naya Paltan said Omar had died in police attack.
The Naogaon police superintendent, Mohammad Mofazzal Hossain, admitted to stopping BNP leaders and activists from forming the human chain but he brushed aside the allegation that the chase by the police had caused the death of the Juba Dal leader. ‘It was a natural death. He might have died of heat stroke in the hot weather.’ The day’s main programme was held in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka where the police did not allow BNP men, led by the opposition chief whip in the parliament, Zainul Abdin Farroque, on the pavement, leading to a scuffle that continued for some time. Policemen in riot gears took position in front of the National Press Club and pushed the activists inside the club. The BNP leaders and activists entered into an altercation with the police and shouted slogans against the government’s move to suppress opposing voice and they all sat on the road. The police tried to pick up some people from the spot but failed. After the programme, the party’s secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain alleged police action on a peaceful programme such as human chain was carried out at unofficial instruction of the government.Delwar said police had barred the party’s peaceful demonstrations across the country. ‘They charged with truncheons at the activists and detained them. This is how the government is torturing the opposition by giving unofficial instructions to the police. Such incidents of torture are keeping the government off the people,’ he said, urging the government to refrain from such action. The police did not allow BNP activists at any spot in Dhaka but the entrance to the Supreme Court building. The police charged with truncheons at the activists at Gabtali, Shyamali, Asad Gate and Farmgate. The Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, was also picked up by the police. At the Supreme Court building, some 50 to 60 BNP-backed lawyers, led by the Supreme Court Bar Council president, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, former parliament speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, and the party’s standing committee member Moudud Ahmed formed the human chain and the police immediately cordoned them off.
Some allies of the BNP also joined the programme at the National Press Club. Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Mujibur Rahman and Tasnim Alam, Islami Oikya Jote secretary Abdul Latif Nezami, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party president Shafiul Alam Pradhan, and Bangladesh Jaitya Party secretary general Shamim Al Mamun, were at the press club In Chittagong, the police picked up five BNP activists. The city unit BNP formed human chains at Kalamia Bazar, Bahaddarhat, Muradpur, Dewanhat, Chowmohani, Barik Building, Saltgola, EPZ and WASA crossings. In Rajshahi, the police intercepted BNP and its front organisations at Saheb Bazar. After the police had stopped the opposition leaders from forming a human chain, they brought out a procession that ended at Bhuban Mohan Park where they held a rally. Former Rajshahi mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, also the city BNP president, and general secretary Shafiqul Huq Milon addressed the gathering. At least 20 leaders and activists of the Khulna BNP were injured in an attack allegedly by the Juba League and the Chhatra League near the Power House crossing in the Khulna city. The Khulna BNP formed human chains at 17 points in the city.
At least 30 leaders and activists of the BNP and its front organisations were injured in police action on the human chain in Jessore. Thirteen leaders and activists of the BNP and Islami Chhatra Shibir were picked up by the police in the town.
The police also dispersed human chains of the BNP in Barisal. In Narayanganj, at least 50 BNP activists were injured as the police charged with truncheons at a procession about 11:00am. The police also foiled the BNP’s human chain in Manikganj. At least 10 activists of the BNP, Chhatra Dal and Juba Dal were injured in police action when they tried to form a human chain in front of the central mosque in Jaipurhat.( The Daily New Age, 8th July, 2010)

Barriers on holding meetings/procession
• Government is adamant not to hold and demolish all the meetings and processions. Previous photographs and reports are the glaring examples of this.







Section -4
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION : INSTITUTIONAL MOVES

Human rights Commission
The Government passed the bill of Human Rights Commission on july 9 2009. For selection procedure govt formed a body where are 6 out of 7 belongs to ruling party and only 1 from opposition. It means that much expected HRC will be subservient institution to Government will. the commission, under the bill, has also been toothless tiger. According to the bill it can only suggest punishment against those who has been proved guilty. There is no activities even no comment on the violation of human rights by political government in last 16 days.

Anti corruption Commission
measures underway to curb it’s independence and area of functioning

Abuse of Anti terrorism Law
the government in a cabinet meeting on February 19 2009 approved Anti terrorism Bill to make it into law. No feedback was taken from any corner. In the bill the anti terrorism ordinance promulgated by military backed Care taker Government was redefined. The given definition was so wide and ambiguous that it provides enough room for misuse.




CONCLUSION

Democracy cannot function effectively in the absence of good governance. Both are complimentary to each other. For good governance first required is good polity, responsive civil society, conscious and aware citizen. At a thorny time of extreme insecurity for Opposition leaders, activists and workers, when full-throated canards and vitriolic diatribes laced with brazenly concocted stories against the leaders of the Opposition BNP and BJI within as well as outside parliament by the ruling Awami League (AL) leaders hang in the air ad infinitum, suddenly the nation experienced a pleasant surprise that rekindled people's fading faith in the virtues of human values again after a yawning gap of some 18 months. During the past one and a half year violations of fundamental human rights that has invited worldwide condemnation for closing down the Bengali daily Amar Desh and the private satellite TV network Channel One to suppress the voice of dissent. On the basis of a flimsy case government arrested the top BJI leaders and later on charged on some graft cases made the ill motive of the government clear to all.
According to Swedish writer, politician and member of European Parliament, Cecilia Wikstrom, “Journalists are not safe from the attack from power corridors. Two newspapers and a television channel have been shut down by the Government should come up to help those media houses survive.If there was any legal weakness, that could be solved in court. This is a bad sign that caused unemployment. That will definitely disturb the road to democracy.” (The Weekly Holiday, 2nd July, 2010, Anisur Rahman Human rights, tolerance and democracy
Referring to police action at BNP standing Committee member Mirza Abbas home on hartal day former Law minister and a leading Awami League leader advocate Abdul Matin Khasru said he was shocked and ashamed of it as he saw the TV footage in news telecast. In fact RAB personnel carried out the violence inside his home destroying family artifacts and beating women including his old mother now over 75.
Suranjit Sen Gupta also took exception to such brutalities when many other critics tend to equate the RAB action with that of the dreaded 'Rakhi Bahihi' which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had set up in early 1970s to destroy the opposition JSD that time. But home minister advocate Sahara Khatun simply downplayed the RAB action saying she was not aware of it although all TV channels repeatedly showed the footage of the violence throughout the day.
So, Awami League is becoming more alarmed and also more despotic. But will it be able to save the party at the end or end up only destroying business and investments, wonder analysts now watching the country's deteriorating political situation.