Pakistan considers the trial process at the International Crimes Tribunal as an “internal affair” of Bangladesh, but at the same time, takes note of the concerns raised by some human rights organisations.
“We have seen the media reports. While we do not interfere in the internal affairs of Bangladesh, we have also noted that concerns are being raised by human rights organisations and international legal community on this matter,” official spokesperson of Pakistan foreign ministry Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told a regular press briefing in Islamabad on Friday.
He was replying to a question regarding the 90-year sentence for former Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Ghulam Azam, that fuelled agitation by the party’s Pakistan wing recently.
The tribunal has so far given verdicts in cases against five Jamaat leaders – Abdul Quader Molla, Delawar Hossain Sayedee, Kamaruzzaman, Ghulam Azam and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed. All but Ghulam Azam and Quader Mollah were given death sentence. Former Jamaat member Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar was given the death penalty in absentia.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has questioned the trial process on multiple occasions, while London-based Amnesty International opposed the death penalty in the tribunal.
Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan after a war in 1971. The current government, after being elected in 2009, started the trials. Jamaat under the leadership of Ghulam Azam was responsible for forming different forces including razakar and paramilitary force al-Badr which sided with the Pakistani occupation army in committing crimes against humanity that includes genocide, rape, torture, religious persecution, arson and looting.
Neither Pakistan, nor Jamaat has ever officially apologised to Bangladesh for the acts in 1971.
Meanwhile, Kelly McCarthy, the press and information officer of the US embassy in Dhaka, told the Dhaka Tribune that the US had supports in bringing to justice those who committed atrocities.
“We believe that any such trials must be free, fair, and transparent, and in accordance with international standards that Bangladesh has agreed to uphold through its ratification of international agreements, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” she said.
