‘Think it Through, Benches is the Answer’

This article is based on the position paper titled ‘Think it Through, Benches is the Answer’ – A Legal and Strategic Analysis of the Government’s Stance on Setting up Additional Tribunals (full-text dowload link), which is based on an internal memorandum prepared by the International Crimes Strategy Forum (ICSF – www.icsforum.org) in January 2012 to communicate the concerns of ICSF to Bangladesh Government and relevant stakeholders regarding the Government’s plan that involved setting up additional Tribunals under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 to speed up the justice process. The memo was provided confidentially to the Prime Minister’s Office, Minister and State Minister of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, National Human Rights Commission, the Bangladesh Law Commission, and Sector Commanders’ Forum among other stakeholders. Also published in BDNews24, and E-Bangladesh.
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Text of ICT Prosecutor’s Speech before South Asian Committee of EU Parliament

Full text of ICT prosecutor Advocate Zead-Al-Malum’s speech before EU Parliament’s Delegation on South Asia explaining the nature of the International Crimes Tribunal, its operations, and the safeguards that are built within the process to protect the human rights of the accused who are now on trial.
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Tribunal has provided reasons on the petition filed against the ICT Chairman for alleged bias

Here is the full text of the Order delivered by the Tribunal:
(downloadable pdf version available here on ICSF’s E-Library) Continue reading

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Tribunal to provide reasons on the petition filed against the ICT Chairman for alleged bias in a few hours

In all likelihood, it is going to be an important day for the Tribunal. In a few hours it will be 28 November 2011, the day fixed for the International Crimes Tribunal to deliver its Judgment on a petition filed by the defence as to why Mr. Justice Md. Nizamul Huq should or should not continue to sit as Chairman of the Tribunal.
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Posted in Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, ICT Update, Orders and Judgments, Petitions and Applications | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Stephen Rapp: Of misconceptions, unrealistic expectations and double standards

As an act of civic engagement, this piece has sought to explore Mr. Rapp’s suggestions regarding the ICT and its governing statute. There is no argument against ensuring fairness and quality of the justice process initiated by the ICT. Attention, however, must also be given to the fundamental principles enshrined in the ICTA; any failure to maintain the right balance will allow impunity to continue and rule of law to be frustrated.
[Full text of ICSF’s position paper on this issue is available for download from this link].
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Position Paper on US War Crimes Ambassador Stephen Rapp’s Suggestions regarding ICT

On 15 May 2011, ICSF released its position paper on the suggestions of US War Crimes Ambassador Stephen Rapp delivered to the Government of Bangladesh regarding the ICT and its governing statute the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973. It has been prepared by the Legal Research Team of ICSF, one of the 21 such teams of this network that are currently engaged in assisting the justice initiative in Bangladesh.
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E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (April 2011)

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E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (March 2011)

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Who’s Afraid of Sarmila Bose?

The Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunals are seen by many in the American-Anglo alliance as being a nuisance. The genocide allegedly committed by Pakistan’s military and its collaborators during the 1971 Liberation War is seen as a Cold War by-product which should be left well alone.
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Posted in 1971, Analysis, Controversy, Diplomacy, History, Lobbying, Policy, Politics, Revisionism | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sarmila Bose, a dedicated advocate for a genocidal regime

[Also published on Voice of Bangladeshi Bloggers]

She came like a whirlwind causing a little tsunami in the US capital. The day was March 15, 2011 and the place of occurrence was the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.
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Posted in 1971, Analysis, Controversy, History, Jurisprudence, Law, Lobbying, Policy, Politics, Review, War Crimes, War Criminal | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

If You Say So Ms Bose!!

Ms Bose 'does' good research, or Sarmila goes to Washington...


Cartoon by: Tareq Nurul Hasan
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Please Deselect International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) from the List of Honourees for 1971

According to media reports, the Government of Bangladesh, at its 40th anniversary of national independence, has taken the initiative to honour a number of individuals and organisations for their contributions during the Liberation War of 1971. While it is indeed a commendable move on the part of the government, attention of the concerned authorities also needs to be drawn urgently in respect of one particular organisation (ie, Geneva based International Commission of Jurists – ICJ) chosen for this unique honour. It is not clear what considerations prompted the government to select ICJ, but based on the review of one of ICJ’s widely quoted Report on 1971, the decision to honour ICJ appears to be an ill-advised and ill-judged one.
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Posted in 1971, Analysis, Controversy, History, News, Organisational, Politics, Revisionism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Accepting “Death Penalty” under the 1973 Act

Just an hour ago, a friend has forwarded me a recently published interview of Lord Eric Avebury (Vice-Chair, UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights) with a Bangladeshi newspaper. Continue reading

Posted in Controversy, Discussion, Law, Microblogging, Policy, Translation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (October 2010, week 3)

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E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (October 2010, week 2)

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Abusing the War Crimes Trial

1.
We have witnessed how political exploitation hindered the earlier process of war crimes trial. Over the last four decades, politicisation has been used to embed a division within the society for personal and partisan political benefits. This article reviews some of those post-independence schisms and argues why we need to be vigilant to not let the current trial effort get mired by opportunistic elements.
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Posted in Controversy, War Crimes | 2 Comments

E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (October 2010, week 1)

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Pieces of History

How would one make a choice, a correct one, without an all round appreciation of one’s own history? How can one find his own place in the handed down history and determine steps of the future without actually breathing and living it? Compilations like this, at least to an extent, are expected to facilitate that process of reckoning while the facts are still verifiable [...]
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Trials and Errors

Over many years, public discourse on war crimes and its trial since 1971 seems to have generated many errors, and facts are often ignored or forgotten. This piece attempts to provide a set of facts.
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The Curious Case of the 195 War Criminals

This article investigates the news reports that were published in international media from December 16, 1971 to April 15, 1974 to understand how and why those 195 Pakistanis were accused and released. It also explores the avenues the post-1971 Bangladesh government pursued to put Pakistani and local war criminals on trial.
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Posted in Analysis, Controversy, Discussion, History, Law, Politics, Rebuttals, War Crimes | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (September 2010, week 4)

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Lord Avebury- A Policy of Appeasement?

A Policy of Appeasement? I was recently having a discussion with a friend about the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. He couldn’t understand why liberals and multiculturalists were being critical about the trial’s developments. This criticism is part of a growing trend for supporters of the tribunal. I wouldn’t like it to become a split.  People have become fixated on the lack of support and naïve pandering to Islamists by western politicians.
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Posted in Controversy, Lobbying, News, Policy, Politics | 12 Comments

E-Library ‘71 – Recent Additions – (September 2010, week 3)

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E-Library ‘71 – recent additions – (September 2010, week 2)

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A Coyote in a Sheep’s Clothing

NOWADAYS WE are hearing more and more that lofty terminology “moderate Muslims”. Is there any such thing called moderate Muslims? When I think about the mindset of the expatriat Bangladeshi Muslims, I tend to think it is indeed a rarity. In my opinion, when any Muslim starts to talk about Sharia or rant “Islam is a way of life”, the moderation in his or her world view immediately evaporates. The Islamic tradition encourages politicization of the theological belief. Some critics of Islam say Islam comes with the whole package where jihad and politics are integral part. I would say it is still possible to defang the entity of political Islam. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has not convinced me he is a socalled moderate Muslim.
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Posted in Analysis, Controversy, News, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

E-Library ‘71 – recent additions – (September 2010, week 1)

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NOTICE!! “WCSF” Changes its Name to “ICSF”

Responding to the need for greater terminological clarity, WCSF (War Crimes Strategy Forum) has changed its name to ICSF (International Crimes Strategy Forum). The term “international crimes” encompasses all kinds of crimes that are currently within the purview of Bangladesh’s International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, such as: war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity etc, which prompted this name-change.
From now onwards, the address of ICSF’s main portal page will be:

http://icsforum.org

All URL visits to any of ICSF’s older addresses to any of the sites (eg, E-Library, Media-Archive) will be automatically re-directed.

Thank you.

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E-Library ‘71 – recent additions – (July 2010, week 4)

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Bangabandhu’s ‘General Amnesty’ Declaration: Evidential Documents and Relevant Stories

[Written by Omi Rahman Pial, cross-posted from the original at E-Bangladesh]

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E-Library ‘71 – recent additions – (July 2010, week 3)

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