Bangladesh’s special tribunal issued an arrest warrant against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 29 others on charges of crimes against humanity. The accused were allegedly involved in enforced disappearances of political and ideological opponents during the Awani League rule.
A three-member International Crimes Tribunal bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, took cognizance of charges filed in two separate cases, following which the arrest warrant was issued.
Charges against Hasina
The chargesheet frames Hasina as a key accused. The other accused in the case are mostly former military officers who served in intelligence agencies. Five of the accused are former directors general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.
The Chief prosecutor of the tribunal, Mohammad Tajul Islam, said that Hasina and her defence advisor, former major general Tarique Siddique, were among the key accused of abduction and torture in captivity.
The tribunal set October 22 as the date to produce the accused before the court.
Extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh
Bangladesh under Hasina’s rule was infamous for the extrajudicial killings. Between 2009 and 2023, over 2,699 people fell victim to extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh. Among the victims, 677 were forcibly disappeared, 1048 were killed in custody.
But even before Hasina took power, extrajudicial killings were still prevalent in Bangladesh. Between 2004 and 2006, at least 991 people were killed by the country’s so-called ‘death squad’, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Even though the extrajudicial killings started during Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s, the father of Sheikh Hasina, the successive regimes continued it.
The Awami League government used extrajudicial killings to control dissent and cement its power in the country.
Many human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, made repeated requests to the Bangladeshi government to stop these human rights abuses, but no action was taken.
In 2021, the United Nations announced sanctions against seven RAB officials, who were accused of human rights violations. After the UN sanctions, the number of disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the country saw a decline.
Hasina faces multiple cases in Bangladesh after she was ousted from the country last year. She fled to India after student-led protests toppled Awami League regime.
