April 9, 2019
A tale of three Islamic parties (Continued Page Three)
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh. On August 1, 2013, the Bangladesh High Court declared the registration of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami illegal, ruling that the party is unfit to contest national elections.
Its predecessor, the party (Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan), in 1971 opposed the separation of East Pakistan to become Bangladesh. It collaborated with the Pakistan Army in its operations against Indian-backed Bengali separatists or nationalists
Upon the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the new government banned Jamaat-e-Islami from political participation. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, also cancelled the citizenship of Ghulam Azam, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami who moved to Pakistan, the Middle East and the UK.
Following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the military coup that brought Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman to power in Bangladesh in 1975, the ban on the Jamaat was lifted and the new party Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was formed. Its leaders were allowed to return. Abbas Ali Khan was the acting Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.
In December 2008 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Bangladesh Awami League Party led by Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which won 263 seats out 300. The main rival four-party alliance received only 32 seats, with the remaining four going to independent candidates.
During the 2008 general election, the Awami League pledged to try the war criminals if it takes office.
War crimes during Bangladesh’s India-backed independence war against Pakistan has been a largely dormant issue under successive governments although the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act was passed in 1973 to authorize the investigation and prosecution of the persons responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under international law committed in 1971.
On March 25, 2010, the government announced the formation of a three-member judges' tribunal, a seven-member investigation agency, and a twelve-member prosecution team to hold the trials according to the ICT Act of 1973.
According to Dhaka tribune, since the International Crimes Tribunal’s inception, the tribunals have delivered judgments in 34 cases against 83 war criminals. Among them, 52 were sentenced to death. Five leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami have been executed.
On February 5, 2013, Abdul Quader Mollah, assistant secretary of Jamaat, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Following mass protests, the Supreme Court overturned his life sentence and imposed the death penalty. Quader Molla was executed on December 12, 2013 in a Dhaka jail. Mollah was the first person to be put to death for events in 1971.
On February 28, 2013, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the deputy of Jamaat, was sentenced to death. On September 17, 2014, the Bangladesh Supreme Court reduced sentence of Delwar Hossain Sayedee revising the death sentence to 'imprisonment till death.'
On May 9, 2013 Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was given death sentence. He was hanged on April 11, 2015. Kamaruzzaman had refused to seek clemency from Bangladesh's president.
On November 3, 2013, London-based Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, and US-based Ashrafuzzaman Khan, were sentenced to death in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 people – nine Dhaka University teachers, six journalists and three physicians – in December 1971. Mueen, was once chairman of the East London Mosque. He also served as Director of the Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the UK’s National Health Service. Ashraf was a US citizen now, residing in Jamaica of New York City. He was also involved with the Islamic Circle of North America.
Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Ghulam Azam, was sentenced on July 15, 2013 to 90 years imprisonment. He died in prison on October 23, 2014
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was sentenced to death by hanging on July 17, 2013 and hanged on November 22, 2015.
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was sentenced to death by hanging on October 1, 2013 and hanged on November 22, 2015.
On February 2, 2014, Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf, who was also on trial for crimes against humanity, died in prison. Yusuf was alleged to be the founder of infamous Peace Committees and Razakar force in the greater Khulna region.
On October 29, 2014, Motiur Rahman Nizami was sentenced to death and hanged on May 11, 2016. The International Crimes Tribunal has also observed that while claiming to be an Islamic scholar, he had misinterpreted the Quran to encourage his followers to indulge in genocide. Nizami did not submit a plea for mercy to the president. “While many in Bangladesh believe Nizami to be guilty and want him punished, justice is only served through fair trials,” Brad Adams, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.
On November 2, 2014, Jamaat-e-Islami politician Mir Quasem Ali was sentenced to death and hanged on September 3, 2016. Ali declined to seek a presidential pardon, which would require an admission of guilt. Ali had helped revive Jamaat and made it a potent force in Bangladesh politics by setting up charities, businesses and trusts linked to it after it was allowed to operate in the late 1970s.
With Ali’s death, all five top leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami have been hanged for war crimes after the secular government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up a domestic war crimes tribunal in 2010.
Rights groups say the tribunal's trials fall short of global standards and lack international oversight, while Hasina's secular government says they are needed to heal the wounds of the conflict.
Jamaat says the tribunal's trials are politically motivated, part of a government conspiracy to eliminate the party which is a key opposition force.
On August 1, 2013, High Court cancelled the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami ruling that the party is unfit to contest national polls because its charter puts God above democratic process. After four days, the Supreme Court rejected Jamaat's plea against the High Court verdict.
Human Rights Watch
Brad Adams, director of the Asia branch of Human Rights Watch, said in November 2012: "The trials against (...) the alleged war criminals are deeply problematic, riddled with questions about the independence and impartiality of the judges and fairness of the process.
In March 2013, The Economist criticized the tribunal, mentioning government interference, restrictions on public discussion, not enough time allocated for the defense, the kidnapping of a defense witness and the judge resigning due to controversy over his neutrality.
A WikiLeaks leaked cable in November 2010 from the US State Department said, "There is little doubt that hard-line elements within the ruling party Awami League believe that the time is right to crush Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamic parties."
The Turkish president Abdullah Gül sent a letter to the tribunal asking that clemency be shown to those accused of war crimes.
The European Parliament expressed its strong opposition against the use of the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances. It called on the Bangladesh authorities to commute all death sentences and introduce a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition of capital punishment."
Sam Zarifi of the International Commission of Jurists expressed concern that the flawed nature of trials conducted at the ICT could deepen the divisions in Bangladeshi society which resulted from the war of 1971, rather than heal them.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said that the arbitrary detention of the suspects and refusal by the government to grant bail to them violates Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
