HRDB NEWSLETTER

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh Newsletter

10th May 2016

Bangladesh:

Another Judicial Killing

Bangladesh has executed Motiur Rahman Nizami, chief
of the countrys the largest Islamic political party
through a trial procedure that international human
rights groups have condemned as deeply flawed. The
controversial hanging was executed early on 10th April,
2016 local time.
Nizami was a Cabinet minister during for- In 2013, the convictions of Jamaat-emer Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's last term Islami leaders by the tribunal triggered
in 2001-2006.
some of Bangladeshs most deadly political violence in decades, with around 500
Mr Nizamis trial was held by Bangla- people killed, mostly in clashes between
deshs domestic International Crimes Tri- Islamists and police.
bunal, established by Sheikh Hasina, the
prime minister, in 2009 to try those be- Since then, authorities have arrested thoulieved to be responsible for the worst sands of Jamaat supporters, while many
atrocities of the secession struggle.
leaders have gone into hiding.

Human rights groups say the Bangladesh tribunals process has fallen
far short of credible and fair justice, appearing mainly to serve as a
method of railroading suspects to
the gallows.
The tribunal restricted the number of defence witnesses who could testify during
the war crimes trials Mr Nizami was
allowed just four and disallowed any
defence challenge to inconsistent prosecution testimony.
We have no complaints about these guys
being prosecuted, but you have to find all
the evidence, says Meenakshi Ganguly, a
South Asia director at Human Rights
Watch. Whats happening is there is not
enough of an attempt to build the prosecution case and there is very little attempt at
the right to the defence.
Mr Nizami is the fourth politician from Jamaat-e-Islami to be executed after conviction by the tribunal. In November, a senior
BNP leader, who had been a long-time
parliament member, and the partys secretary-general, were also hanged.

ICT-BD originally sentenced Nizami to

death on October 29, 2014 and after an
appeal hearing, the apex court in its January 2015 judgment found the punishment
appropriate for him.

How Fair is
Nizamis Trial ?

The prison authorities served Nizami the

death warrant on March 16 as the apex
court's decision reached them in writing International Human Rights groups
that have spoken out against the
through the ICT-BD following which the
Jamaat chief preferred to seek review of judicial proceedings include Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty Internationthe Supreme Court judgment.
al, The International Center for
Transitional Justice, the InternaHe was arrested on July 29, 2010 on
tional Bar Association, No Peace
charges of hurting religious sentiments.
After three days, he was shown arrested without Justice, the United States
Ambassador-at-Large for War
in a war crimes case.
Crimes Stephen Rapp, Members of
Execution of Nizami occurred despite re- the United States Congress, Members of the British Government,
peated calls and diplomatic efforts, includMembers of the United Kingdom
ing from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, Human rights commission of House of Lords and the Bar Human
the United States Congress, the United Rights Committee of England and
States Ambassador-at-Large for War Wales. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Crimes Stephen Rapp, and Turkish Presihas declared the process in breach
dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
of international law, and has rePreviously, three other party leaders of ferred the matter to the UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture.
BJI, Ali Ahsan M. Mujhid, Mr. Abdul Quader Mollah and Mr. Muhammad KamaContinued on next page
ruzzaman, were executed in similar fashion.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh Newsletter

10th May 2016

How fair is Nizamis trial?

Apart from the general overall weaknesses in proceedings of the socalled International Tribunal in relation to Nizami's trial, three immediate
issues come to mind:
1.Charge no 16, one of the offences for
which Nizami received the death sentence, was not part of the prosecution's
initial charge framing application, but
appears to have been added (as seen
from the e-mails leaked during the
'skype' scandal)2 at the request of an
outsider to the tribunal, Ziauddin Ahmed,
a legal academic who whilst advising the
judges was also in touch with the prosecution.
2. Nizami's defence lawyers were only
allowed to call four witnesses in defence
of 16 charges, whilst the prosecution
was allowed over 20.
3. At least one prosecution witness,
Shamsul Huq Nannu, claimed in a recorded interview that he was briefed and
coerced to give evidence against Nizami. (He subsequently denied that he
ever gave the videoed interview, but
independent tests done on the voice
recordings commissioned by the defence suggested that it was the same
person)

Who is Motiur Rahman Nizami?

Motiur Rahman Nizami was born in March 31, 1943 in District of Pabna ,
Bangladesh.
He was active in the Islamic movement from the very outset.
He was elected President of the largest student organization of the subcontinent Jamiat-e-Talaba Pakistan from 1969 till September 1971. He
joined Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh in September 1971.
He discharged many responsibilities in Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as a
president of Dhaka city Jamaat, Assistant Sec. General of Jamaat, in
1988 he became Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
In 1991 he was elected as a member of parliament and appointed as the
leader of Jamaat parliament party.

Whilst, in the end of course it is only

through a fair trial process that guilt can He played a critical role in the movement of the constitutional amendment
properly be apportioned, the prism of
moral justice cannot simply be put to one that reverted back the country to parliamentary democracy. He also
played a key role in the restoring the neutral caretaker government conside.
In addition, disclosures from the international news media show that there is
overwhelming evidence of serious judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.

cept in constitution to conduct national election.

In 2000 he was elected as the Ameer (president) of Bangladesh Jamaate-Islami. In 2001 he was again elected as a Member of Parliament. He
served as Agriculture Minister in the government and subsequently
The government has conspired with
members of the judiciary, and the prose- served as an Industry Minister.
cution, to bring about the desired result
for the conviction and execution of the
leading members of Jamaat-e-Islami.

During his tenure as an Agriculture Minister, he was praised nationally

and internationally for is honesty, hard work and dedication. Bangladesh
The tribunal has become a mockery of
managed to achieve surplus in food supply during his tenure. During his
international law, and undermines all
major international instruments to protect time as the Minister of Industries, for the first and only time in the history
fundamental human rights principles and of Bangladesh the state owned Sugar Mills made profit.
basic standards of justice.

Motiur Rahman Nizami was chosen as 43rd most influential Muslim leadDespite these criticisms, the
Bangladeshi government is still er by Royal Islamic Strategic Center in 2009.
determined to carry out execuThe Muslim 500 listed Motiur Rahman Nizami among the most influential
tions of opposition leaders.
political leaders in 2016.
Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh (HRDB) / email: humanrightsbd@gmail.com