Crimes against humanity: 502 accused in 71 cases before tribunal, 315 at large

Six cases involving crimes against humanity committed during the July mass uprising have been adjudicated. The International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced 15 people, including ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to death. Another 46 people have been sentenced to various terms, including life imprisonment.

Besides cases related to the July uprising, the tribunal is also hearing cases involving enforced disappearances, killings and torture during the Awami League’s rule. Altogether, there are 71 cases. No verdict has yet been delivered in any of the enforced disappearance or killing cases.

According to sources at the registrar’s office of the International Crimes Tribunal, 502 people have been accused in the 71 cases. Of them, 315 are absconding and 184 are in custody. One accused has died by suicide, while another has been granted a pardon. One accused has already served his sentence from the time of arrest until the delivery of the verdict.

However, many of the 502 accused are facing charges in more than one case. When a person is accused in multiple cases, they have been counted as an accused in each case.

For example, six cases against Sheikh Hasina are currently pending trial, while she has been sentenced to death in another case. As a result, Sheikh Hasina alone has been counted seven times among the 502 accused. However, no accused has been counted more than once in the six cases in which verdicts have already been delivered.

According to the tribunal registrar’s office, apart from the six cases in which verdicts have been delivered, one case is awaiting a verdict. The Office of the Chief Prosecutor has filed formal charges in 23 cases, which are now pending trial before the tribunal.

Another 41 cases are under investigation as miscellaneous cases, or “miscellaneous cases” (mis cases). This means formal charges have not yet been filed before the tribunal in these cases. The tribunal’s investigation agency is either conducting investigations or has submitted investigation reports in these cases.

Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam told Prothom Alo that verdicts had been delivered in six sensitive cases. It is not usually seen that so many verdicts are delivered within such a short period in other courts, he said. He added that they were satisfied with the verdicts.

The International Crimes Tribunal was established in 2010 primarily to prosecute crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

The Awami League government fell on 5 August 2024 following the July mass uprising. To prosecute crimes against humanity committed during the uprising, the then interim government reconstituted International Crimes Tribunal-1 on 14 October 2024 under the leadership of Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder. Earlier, on 5 September 2024, the Office of the Chief Prosecutor had also been reconstituted under the leadership of Mohammad Tajul Islam.

To expedite the trial of crimes against humanity, International Crimes Tribunal-2 was established on 8 May last year. It is headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury.

The two tribunals are hearing cases involving crimes against humanity committed during the July mass uprising, enforced disappearances and killings, as well as crimes committed during a Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel.

Of those sentenced to death in the six July-related cases, 11, including Sheikh Hasina, are absconding, while four are in custody. Former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman has been sentenced to death in two cases, involving incidents in Chankharpul and Rampura.

Among the 46 people sentenced to various terms, 11, including former Dhaka Range deputy inspector general (DIG) Syed Nurul Islam, have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The first verdict in a case involving crimes against humanity committed during the mass uprising was delivered on 17 November last year. On that day, Tribunal-1 sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July mass uprising. Another accused, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who testified as an approver, was sentenced to five years in prison.

The second verdict was delivered on 26 January this year. Tribunal-1 sentenced former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty and former additional deputy commissioner of the Ramna zone Shah Alam Md Akhtarul Islam to death for crimes against humanity committed in connection with the killing of six people in Chankharpul in the capital. Five other accused in the case were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The third verdict came from Tribunal-2 on 5 February. Six people were sentenced to death in a case involving crimes against humanity committed in Ashulia, Savar, including the killing of seven people and the burning of the bodies of six victims.

The six people sentenced to death are former lawmaker Muhammad Saiful Islam, former officer-in-charge of Ashulia police station AFM Sayed, former sub-inspector Abdul Malek, former assistant sub-inspector Bishwajit Saha, former constable Mukul Chokdar and Jubo League activist Rony Bhuiyan. Nine other accused were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, including life imprisonment, while one accused was granted a pardon.

In a case involving crimes against humanity committed in the killing of Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur and the first martyr of the mass uprising, Tribunal-2 sentenced two people to death. The verdict, delivered on 9 April, sentenced former police assistant sub-inspector Amir Hossain and former constable Sujan Chandra Roy to death.

Another 28 accused, including former vice-chancellor of Begum Rokeya University Professor Md Hasibur Rashid, were sentenced to various terms, including life imprisonment.

The fifth verdict was delivered on 28 June. Tribunal-1 sentenced former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former additional deputy commissioner of the Khilgaon zone Md Rashedul Islam and former officer-in-charge of Rampura police station Md Mashiur Rahman to death in a case involving crimes against humanity committed in the capital’s Banasree area during the mass uprising. Five other accused were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

In the sixth and most recent verdict, delivered on 30 June, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASOD) president Hasanul Haq Inu was sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

A case involving crimes against humanity, including the killing of six people in Kushtia during the mass uprising, has been awaiting a verdict at Tribunal-2 since 10 June.

The accused in the case are banned Awami League joint general secretary Mahbub Ul Alam Hanif, former chairman of the Kushtia District Council Sadar Uddin Khan, Kushtia district Awami League general secretary Asgar Ali and Kushtia municipal Awami League general secretary Ataur Rahman. All of them are absconding.

A total of 316 accused are currently facing trial in 23 cases before the two tribunals. Sheikh Hasina is an accused in six of these cases. Other accused include former army chief Aziz Ahmed and 31 former and serving military officers. The remaining accused include politicians, journalists, former police officers and former members of other security forces.

Of the 23 cases pending trial, nine concern enforced disappearances, killings and torture during the Awami League’s rule.

One notable case concerns crimes against humanity committed in connection with the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel in 2013. A total of 41 people have been accused in the case. They include ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 15 former ministers and lawmakers, former army chief Aziz Ahmed and 21 former members of various security forces, three politicians and organisers, and two journalists.

In another case concerning the RAB’s Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) cell, 17 people, including 12 former and serving army officers, are facing trial. In a case involving the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI)’s Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), 13 people, including 12 former and serving army officers, are facing trial.

The two tribunals are also hearing 14 cases involving crimes against humanity committed during the July mass uprising. In one of these cases, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Sheikh Hasina, and former state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak are facing trial.

Investigation reports have already been submitted in several of the 41 cases under investigation by the two tribunals.

Among them are an investigation report against former High Court judge A.H.M. Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Professor AKM Jamal Uddin of the Department of Sociology at Dhaka University; another against former additional deputy commissioner Ishtiaq Ahmed; one against Tanvir Hasan Saikat, general secretary of the Dhaka University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League; and another against former Narayanganj City Corporation councillor Matiur Rahman.

According to sources at the Office of the Chief Prosecutor, formal charges based on these reports will be submitted to the tribunal very soon.

Sheikh Jamal Hasan, father of martyred Sheikh Mahdi Hasan Junayed, who was killed in Chankharpul, told Prothom Alo on Wednesday night that he wanted the death sentences handed down to those convicted in the case to be carried out.

He also said the sentences handed down to the other accused should be increased.