Law Minister Anisul Haq has said although there is a debate on the death penalty across the world, the US has no objection to capital punishment for war criminals if it is deserved.
The minister made the statement while talking to reporters after a meeting with the visiting US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen J Rapp at his secretariat office yesterday.
“I told him [Rapp] that they [war criminals] had killed our people brutally in 1971. Though there is a debate on the death penalty globally, we think that no punishment other than death penalty would be sufficient for them,” he said.
Quoting Rapp, the minister said: “The US has proposed finding an alternative to death penalty for war criminals, but they have no objection to it if the war crime deserves this punishment. He is not against the verdicts or decisions of courts.”
Anisul added: “Remarkable change has been noticed in the US’ opinion on the war crimes trial. They have softened their stance on the trial of war criminals. Now they are satisfied with the trial.”
Earlier, the US and some other countries had opposed the trial system and death penalty for war criminals.
The law minister said: “Initiatives have been taken to amend the International Crimes Tribunal Act to try organisations involved with war crimes. After amending the law, such organisations can also be tried under it.
“A draft of the ICT (Amendment) Act has been prepared and it will be placed in the cabinet meeting shortly.”
