Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says her country’s first ever war crimes trial relating to the 1971 war of independence will be fair, impartial and conform to international standards—this according to the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star. According to the paper, the Prime Minister made the comments to US ambassador-at-large for war crimes Stephen Rapp on Tuesday in Dhaka, following his pointed criticism of the judicial process. 

Lauren Comiteau

71-year old Delawar Hossain Sayedee, currently a senior figure in the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party, went on trial earlier this month in Dhaka, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and religious persecution. As a suspected collaborator who opposed the country’s split with Pakistan, prosecutors say Sayedee led a militia during the war that killed at least 60 people. Goverment officials say some 3 million people died in the conflict.

Rocky Start
But the trial, which opened earlier this month in the Bangladesh capital, has been plagued by criticism. The Prime Minister, daughter of independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has been accused of targeting her political opponents. She established the tribunal after returning to power in 2009. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hasina defended the institution, saying there is “no political motive” behind the trials.

But criticism has flowed in from other corners than just her domestic political opponents: the New York-based group Human Rights Watch has said its legal procedures fall short of international standards; Sayedee’s defence lawyer says the trial judge is biased; and a British lawyer recruited by the opposition has said suspects—there are seven in total—are being denied access to legal advice, witnesses are being harassed, and that prosecutors are already boasting of a guilty verdict by the year’s end.

Rapp on the Knuckles
Stephen Rapp, the former prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone who has been consulting with the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka, said earlier this week he regrets the court hasn’t taken his advice to improve its procedures and needs to do more to ensure justice at the “historic proceedings.” He called for witness protection programs and said war crimes suspects must be afforded the same rights as Bangladeshi citizens.

According to Bangladesh’s The Daily Star, Rapp, after meeting with the Prime Minister, prosecutors and others involved in the legal process on Tuesday, now says “things are moving on the right track.” The International Crimes Tribunal is a domestic court that is not endorsed by the UN.