Condemned war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, a key organiser of the infamous al-Badr force in Sherpur during the 1971 Liberation War, was executed at the Dhaka Central Jail last night after the completion of a five-year-long legal battle.
The Jamaat-e-Islami senior assistant secretary general was given capital punishment for the massacre at Sherpur’s Sohagpur village – widely now known as “Bidhoba Palli” or the village of widows – where at least 164 civilians had been killed and around 170 women raped on July 25, 1971.
He, however, did not seek mercy, admitting the crimes before the execution.
Kamaruzzaman was hanged at 10:30pm, Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune at 10:35pm. The official also dismissed the widespread information that the execution had taken place at 10:01pm.
Kamaruzzaman seemed normal when he was taken to the execution dock, said another official who witnessed the process adding that the convict was kept hanging from the noose for 17-19 minutes. The formalities were completed around 11:15pm.
Much of the evidence brought in the tribunal consisted of the pro-Pakistan press reports of the day
Life-term convict Raju along with imprisoned hangmen Poltu and Sattar implemented the execution of Kamaruzzaman while Imam Monir Hossain performed the rituals.
Led by Deputy Jailer Akhirul Islam, two ambulances – one carrying the body, two vans with 26 police members and another with RAB personnel left the jail at 11:40pm for Sherpur where the war criminal would be buried. His family members were in the other ambulance.
District police units have been asked to escort the vehicles on the way to Sherpur.
After the vehicles left the premises, Senior Jail Super Farman Ali officially confirmed the execution was carried out at 10:30pm in line with an executive order. “Kamaruzzaman did not seek presidential clemency,” he added.
Kamaruzzaman is set to be buried at the orphanage he had set up at Bajidkhila village of Sherpur sadar as per the wish of the family. The grave would be dug after the execution, district administration officials and Kamaruzzaman’s family members said last night.
Even though local freedom fighters earlier announced to prevent the burial of the war criminal in Sherpur, they softened their stance upon a request by the district administration.
Kamaruzzaman trial timeline
In the afternoon, security measures were beefed up in and around the jail while vehicular movement on the roads leading to the jail were sealed off from the evening.
In the evening, Farman Ali, Deputy Inspector General (prisons) Golam Haider, DMP Deputy Commissioner Nazmul Alam, Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Tofazzal Hossain Mia, Jail Doctor Ahsan Habib and Dhaka Civil Surgeon Abdul Malek Mridha among others entered the jail.
Several hundred people mostly newsmen and justice seekers gathered outside the jail at that time. After the execution, jubilant activists also cheered at Shahbagh intersection, where a movement erupted in 2013 demanding death sentence for all war criminals.
Kamaruzzaman, 62, is the second war criminal to walk the gallows. His colleague and counterpart, another assistant secretary general of Jamaat, Abdul Quader Molla was executed on December 12, 2013 following the legal process. Molla had not sought clemency.
The jail code provision of giving the convict seven days to decide seeking mercy is not applicable for a war criminal
The Appellate Division had commuted the death penalty of another Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee to life-term imprisonment. It is now holding hearings in two other appeals cases, filed by Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
Since Wednesday, war criminal Kamaruzzaman had taken three days to decide whether to seek presidential clemency. On that day, the Appellate Division order rejecting his review petition was communicated to him.
At noon yesterday, the Home Ministry issued an order to execute the death row convict as he finally refused to seek mercy.
Family members of the Jamaat leader met him at the jail around 4:30pm yesterday, for the last time. They earlier visited the convict on April 6, when the Appellate Division scrapped his review petition.
“The government is hanging my father in false cases. He was only 18-year old during the Liberation War,” Hasan Iqbal, eldest son of Kamaruzzaman, told reporters yesterday. “My father told us that the Islamic movement for which he is being hanged will be successful in Bangladesh.”
Terming the execution a “planned killing,” Jamaat yesterday announced prayers for Kamaruzzaman today and a countrywide hartal for tomorrow. The key ally of the 20-party alliance enforced a shutdown on Tuesday and Wednesday in protest against the Appellate Division judgement.
The government has been working to amend the ICT Act of 1973 to bring the party, labelled as a criminal organisation by the war tribunals for its role in 1971, under trial for its stance against the birth of Bangladesh by committing crimes against humanity.
According to sources seeking anonymity, Kamaruzzaman had requested the jail authorities to execute him on a Friday and asked that his body be buried without a funeral bath. But the authorities followed all the formal procedures of an execution.
Suspense over the execution rose high on Thursday when State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan commented that the convict would not be given much time and that he be executed failing to give a decision on the mercy petition by that day.
Since Wednesday, war criminal Kamaruzzaman had taken three days to decide whether to seek presidential clemency
Two magistrates went to the jail on Friday to know about his decision, but to no avail. In the evening, security measures were tightened around the jail giving rise to speculation that the war criminal could be hanged in the night.
The jail code provision of giving the convict seven days to decide whether to seek mercy is not applicable for a war criminal, who is tried under a special law – International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973.
Kamaruzzaman was arrested on July 29, 2010 on the charge of hurting religious sentiment. He was shown arrested in the war crimes case on October 2 the same year and the trial began on July 2, 2012.
The International Crimes Tribunal on May 9, 2013 awarded Kamaruzzaman death penalty on two out of five charges, including the Sohagpur massacre, proved against him. He was sentenced to a life term for two charges and 10 years’ imprisonment in another.
The appeal case was disposed of by the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division on November 3 last year, upholding death sentence in the Sohagpur massacre while the full text of the judgement was released on February 18. The tribunal the following day issued a death warrant for the war criminal.
He filed the review petition on March 5. The four-member Appellate Division bench heard arguments from both the defence and the state on April 5. The defence had prayed to the court to commute Kamaruzzaman’s death penalty to life-term imprisonment. The court delivered its judgement the following day.
Even though local freedom fighters earlier announced to prevent the burial of the war criminal in Sherpur, they softened their stance upon a request by the district administration
After the judgement, New York-based Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Council asked the government to halt the execution and ensure a fair review of the trial as, according to them, it did not meet acceptable standards. On the other hand, the European Union, which advocates for abolishing capital punishment, also asked the government to impose a moratorium on execution.
Execution is in effect in at least 52 countries of the world as well as in 32 states of the US.
Earlier, the National Press Club authorities scrapped the membership of Kamaruzzaman, who had worked for the Daily Sangram, monthly Dhaka Digest, and Jamaat’s weekly Sonar Bangla.
According to his family, Kamaruzzaman had received a Bachelor of Arts (pass course) degree from Dhaka Ideal Collage in 1973. Three years later, he obtained post graduation in journalism from Dhaka University. As a student of DU, he started his career as the university correspondent of the daily Sangram.
In 1971, Kamaruzzaman was a top leader of greater Mymensingh unit Islami Chhatra Sangha, then the student wing of Jamaat. He was also the office secretary of the East Pakistan unit Chhatra Sangha. He played the role of a key organiser in the formation of the infamous al-Badr force with the selected students belonging to Chhatra Sangha at Ashek Mahmud College.
In its verdict, the tribunal said the fierceness of the Sohagpur attack had been grotesque and revolting. Kamaruzzaman by his acts and conduct had participated in the perpetration of such horrendous attack.
Three rape victims, who also lost their husbands in the Sohagpur massacre, standing in the dock of the tribunal, narrated the trauma and demanded justice for the sexual assault and dishonour they suffered.
Much of the evidence brought in the tribunal consisted of the pro-Pakistan press reports of the day, such as from the Jamaat’s mouthpiece the Daily Sangram, with reporting focused on the formation of the militias at the time. The Daily Pakistan newspaper named Kamaruzzaman as an al-Badr, said the tribunal judgement.