War criminal Chowdhury Mueen Uddin will not be extradited by the UK as the British government does not believe in the death penalty. Hence, it cannot extradite someone who “could be, will be or has been” facing a death sentence.
In the meantime, convicted war criminal and al-Badr leader Ashrafuzzaman Khan is evading justice by living in the United States. Unlike the UK or Canada, however, the US has no official position against the extradition of those facing the gallows.
The death penalty is legal in the US, and is currently practiced in 32 states. The US has no philosophical or moral objections to the death penalty.
While the process of signing a treaty is not so simple, there is no reason an extradition agreement cannot be ultimately reached with them. The US has formal extradition arrangements with many nations, including India and Pakistan.
Bangladesh and India signed an extradition treaty last month. That was a good step.
Fugitives should not be able to cross the border into India, or any other country for that matter, and evade the law so conveniently.
Bangladesh should take prompt steps to sign extradition treaties with countries where our convicted criminals are currently taking shelter. While we currently face many legal complexities in doing so, sustained and focused diplomatic efforts to forge more of these treaties are necessary to bring our convicted war criminals to justice.
