New York, July 29 (IANS) Leading US advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused Bangladesh authorities of failing to uphold international legal standards at the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), warning that such failures risk denying justice to victims, undermine the rule of law and result in unjust imprisonment of political opponents.
The remarks came after ICT prosecution on Monday filed formal charges against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 40 others in a crimes against humanity case linked to the 2013 crackdown on the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka.
“Those responsible for the many abuses committed under the Sheikh Hasina government should be appropriately held to account, but many prosecutions are falling short of international fair trial standards. Bangladesh needs to urgently reform its criminal justice system, and the new government should ensure that there is no room for political vendettas through shoddy investigations and arbitrary allegations,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at HRW.
The tribunal was established by the former Hasina-led Awami League government in March 2010 to prosecute individuals accused of committing crimes under international law, such as crimes against humanity, in support of the Pakistan military during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
After the Awami League government was toppled by protesters in 2024, an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus amended the law governing the tribunal, altering the definition of offences. However, these amendments fell short of ensuring due process and procedural standards equivalent to international courts dealing with similar offences, the HRW mentioned.
The current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) administration led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which assumed office in February 2026, has not introduced any changes to those amendments.
The rights body noted that the law governing the tribunal allowed prosecutors to seek the arrest of individuals without meeting any evidential threshold, to detain individuals for months without providing written reasons, while denying the detainees the right of interlocutory appeal to a separate court.
“Trials can begin three weeks after the prosecution discloses its evidence, leaving little time for adequate defence preparation. Trials in absentia are held without appropriate safeguards, including defendants’ right to choose lawyers to represent them. And the tribunal restricts defence lawyers’ ability to cross-examine witnesses,” it added.
The HRW noted that on July 27, prosecutors included the two journalists among 41 individuals named in charges submitted to the Tribunal, accusing them of crimes against humanity and genocide. Under international law, the rights body said, genocide involves certain acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such.
The rights body alleged that “tribunal prosecutors and judges are relying on statements recorded by investigating officers that contain passages duplicated across multiple statements, casting doubt on their authenticity.”
–IANS
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