War crimes trial stalled
The war crimes trial has made no headway for more than one and a half months for the government's failure to appoint someone to the chairman post, eliciting criticism from all quarters associated with the long-cherished trial.
The post at the special tribunal trying war criminals fell vacant after Justice Anwarul Haque died of cancer on July 13. Since then, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 has seen no progress in the proceedings of nine cases, including the one waiting for verdict.
The chief of the tribunal's investigation agency said the delay might discourage witnesses from giving their testimonies while a prosecutor said victims and their family members were “utterly disappointed” at the delay.
Currently, nine cases are at the trial stage and 22 others at the pre-trial stage. Besides, the investigation agency is now collecting evidence in around a dozen more cases.
On May 9, the ICT-1 completed the trial proceedings of a case against six Gaibandha men in connection with crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War and kept the verdict waiting.
Forty-eight days after the death of Justice Anwarul, it is not clear whether the tribunal will hear the closing arguments again.
As per the war crimes law, a tribunal can resume a case's trial from where it stopped even after any change in the judges' panel but there are at least two precedents when the tribunal reheard closing arguments.
In the case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, the tribunal-1 heard the closing arguments for the second time after Justice Md Nizamul Huq had stepped down over a controversy and ATM Fazle Kabir took over the charge as chairman.
And it was all done, the court said, for the sake of justice. The government took only two days to reconstitute the tribunal at that time.
Similar series of events took place in the case against Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami after Justice Fazle Kabir had gone into retirement keeping the verdict waiting.
At the time, the government took 53 days to appoint the chairman. However, there was a second war crimes tribunal functioning.
Expressing frustration, Shaariar Kabir, a prominent advocate of war crimes trial, said, “It is beyond our understanding why it is taking so much time to appoint the chairman and reconstitute the tribunal.”
The government should not consider the war crimes cases like any other cases, added Shaariar, president of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee that has been campaigning for the trial of war-time offenders for more than two decades.
Victims of the crimes committed four and a half decades ago are now dying. The accused are dying too.
“It would be a glaring example of impunity if the perpetrators are not brought to book due to the delay in trial proceedings.
“There might be conflicts between the government and the Supreme Court over different issues but the impact of the conflict should not fall upon the war crimes trial as the entire nation is united in favour of the trial,” Shaariar said.
Prosecutor Zead Al Malum said it was unfortunate that the only court trying war criminals had remained non-functional while the victims' families were demanding more tribunals to expedite the cases' proceedings.
The prosecution would have to send back around 20 witnesses, he said.
If the only tribunal is not reconstituted soon and more tribunals are not formed, it will be tantamount to breaking the promise the government made to the people over the trial, the prosecutor added.
Abdul Hannan Khan, coordinator of the investigation agency, told The Daily Star on August 21 that the delay might raise doubt about the trial proceedings.
“Likely-to-be witnesses in the under-investigation cases may feel discouraged from giving testimonies for this delay,” he said.
Hannan also lamented that activists and civil society men, who were very strong supporter of the trial, remained silent about the non-functional tribunal.
“It seems the trial is not getting priority.”
Two days after the death of the chairman, Law Minister Anisul Huq told this newspaper that a new chairman would be appointed very soon.
However on August 21, he said he was hopeful of appointment of the chairman after Eid-ul-Azha. The minister declined to comment on the delay.
As per its electoral pledge, the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance formed the International Crimes Tribunal on March 25, 2010 to try the perpetrators of crimes in 1971.
The government formed a second tribunal two years later to speed up the trial, but from September 15, 2015 it has remained non-functional.
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