The verdict of the BDR Pilkhana killing case, where 152 were sentenced to death, was a perversion of justice according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
The comment was made in a report published on their website.
“Justice has not been served with the verdict which, if carried out, will only result in violation of 152 more people's human rights,” Amnesty's deputy Asia-Pacific Director Polly Truscott said.
Amnesty said they had previously condemned the brutality in Pilkhana.
“It is understandable that the Bangladeshi authorities want to draw a line under this episode, but to resort to the use of death penalty can only compound suffering,” Truscott said.
“With these sentences Bangladesh has squandered an opportunity to reinforce trust in the rule of law by ensuring the civilian courts deliver justice.”
Instead, the sentences seem designed to satisfy a desire for cruel revenge. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and has not been proven to be a deterrent to crime.”
Amnesty said they had records of the torture of BDR members detained for the mutiny. “Some were denied lawyers for weeks or months. They have been subjected to sleep deprivation for days, beatings, torture by pliers to crush the testicles, insertion of needles under nails and electric shocks.”
The watchdog said these tortures may have led to the deaths of dozens of BDR detainees in custody.
Earlier on Tuesday a Bangladeshi civil court sentenced 152 to execution for the bloody Peelkhana mutiny of February 2009. 161 were jailed for life, 256 were jailed for various terms and 277 were acquitted.
Amnesty says they are against the death penalty. In the past they have condemned the death sentences of criminals convicted of war crimes in Bangladesh.
