EU diplomats in Dhaka divided over war crimes trial

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan


DHAKA: EU diplomats in Dhaka are apparently divided on their common position over trial of the people accused of war crimes during the 1971 independence war of Bangladesh, a media report said on Saturday.

The difference of opinion surfaced among the diplomats about what public position the European Union should take on the adequacy of the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973, under which major Bengali-speaking suspects of the war crimes were being exposed to justice, The New Age newspaper said. Quoting a British High Commission official, the report said the UK government acknowledged the criticisms of the 1973 act made by international lawyers.

“We concur with the opinion of the International Bar Association War Crimes Committee, ie, that whilst the 1973 act is broadly compliant with international standards, we would want to see the adoption of its 17 recommendations,” the High Commission’s political and global issues secretary Jon Ryan told the Age. But the chair of the EU’s Human Rights Task Force which comprises EU diplomats based in Dhaka Andrew Barnard told the newspaper earlier that “although there may be some ‘technical’ shortcomings in the legislation, they will not necessarily lead to a miscarriage of justice”.

According to the report Barnard’s comments sparked a controversy among EU diplomats that prompted him to issue a subsequent statement saying, “it is for Bangladesh to decide whether to bring perpetrators of crimes during the war of independence to trial”. “The EU would however urge Bangladesh to ensure that trials meet international standards for fair judicial processes,” the statement said.

British High Commissioner in Dhaka Stephen Evans last week told PTI that his country appreciated the initiatives for exposure of the perpetrators of the 1971 crimes but it expected the process to comply with the international standards and ensure the suspects rights of defence.

Bangladesh in March last year had constituted a high-powered special tribunal headed by a High Court judge to try the Bengali speaking perpetrators of “crimes against humanity” during the Liberation War under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973. Under the same law the government simultaneously formed a special investigation agency comprising in service and former bureaucrats and police and military officials and a 12-member panel of prosecution team with senior Supreme Court lawyers.

The law suggests highest death penalty and the lowest 10 years of imprisonment for crimes like massacre, murders, arsons and rapes while it allows convicts to file appeals only before the apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

But the International Bar Association (IBA) earlier said there were “significant omissions” regarding protection of rights of the people on trial and “out of date” definitions of war crimes in the 1973 act. daily times monitor