e-bulletin / BDWatch, Canada / November 2014/ Vol.

Be vocal against
Judicial murder
in Bangladesh
Yet another death sentence upheld against a
leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami political group over
alleged war crimes in 1971.
Bangladesh Supreme Court has upheld the unfair and
flawed decision against Bangladeshi Opposition politician
and Islamic Intellectual, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman. As
the government maintains that there is no review provision nor
to plea clemency with President - contrary to provisions in the
constitution - it possible that he may be executed any moment.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says the trials would
bring closure to the families of the victims.
But do these trials serve that purpose? Or, are they as some
critics allege - used to settle scores with the PMs political rivals?
Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was detained on 13th July 2010. He
was shown arrested on 22nd of July 2010 in a case filed by
Shahbag Police Station for obstructing police while they were
discharging duties. After enduring almost 2 years in prison without any charge, Kamaruzzaman was finally charged with 7 cases.
The charges are based on seven separate incidents of crimes
against humanity. Trials for these cases began on 2nd July 2012.
On November 3rd 2014, death sentence for Kamaruzzaman was
upheld by the Supreme Court in the final judgment of his appeal
against the verdict ordered by the International Crime Tribunal-2
last year.
The ICT was set up in 2010 to investigate abuses committed during the 1971 conflict but human rights groups have also expressed
concern that the court falls short of international standards.
Both Kamaruzzaman and Molla was the assistant secretary general for the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which earlier this year was
banned from taking part in elections.
Those calling for justice have been demanding it for so long that
now as the deliberations in the "International War Crimes Tribunal" reach a climax; their emotions alone are controlling their
thinking. For them, there is no alternative to this process. It is
beyond criticism. While this is on the one hand very understandable, it also blinds them to the dangers this situation is creating for
the country.- DW's Grahame Lucas writes as a response to the
death sentence upheld against Kamruzzaman.

Suggesting Bangladesh Grahame Lucas writes: Bangladesh's democracy would have fared better had it opted to go down the path of reconciliation like the one chosen by South Africa in the post Apartheid era
under Nelson Mandela. A Truth Commission if handled properly
could have done much to heal the deep wounds still festering in Bangladesh to the benefit of civil society.
It is deeply regrettable that Bangladesh government didnt pay heed to
numerous concerns and warnings by international community in order
to make the process of trial under International War Crimes Tribunal
(ICT) fair including the request of Secretary of State John Kerry, UN
high commissioner for Human Rights, Foreign Minister of UK, Prime
Minister of Turkey, Human Rights Watch, EU subcommittee for human
rights requesting Prime minister of Bangladesh that this process follows under the international jurisdiction. But Government has rushed
to judgment and planning to execute one by breaching all international norms. This execution, in all likelihood, will derail the democratic
process in Bangladesh.
International community has to take responsibility for what happening
in Bangladesh. International community should halt the consequences
of what this event will bring.
International community should give pressure to Bangladesh government not use force against any protest. Bangladesh government
should understand that that their response to this is under the watchful eye of international community particularly International Criminal
court as Bangladesh is a state party to the Rome Stature.
The ruling government has tarnished the image of the nation before
the world communities. They denied the call and opinion of United
Nations, United States, United Kingdom, Turkey, Australia, and Malaysia and different other forums and thus they are mulling to disconnect
the country from rest parts of the world.

All the Bangladeshis and the international community

should be vocal against this heinous conspiracy of judicial
murder of this government.

Judicial murder by Awami-led government

It is now crystal clear that the government was trying to implement its conspiracy to kill Muhammad Kamaruzzaman judicially. The trial which he had faced had become questionable by all means due various scams like skype scandal and safe home
scandal. The tribunal is conducting the trial but surprisingly the ruling ministers are fixing the date.
One of the allegation (the offence for which he was sentenced to death) against Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is that he was instrumental in an attack on Sohagpur village (aka Bidhoba Polli) by Pakistani Army. On 25th July 1971 Pakistan Army and their
local collaborators raided the village, raped many women, and killed at least 120 people.
Prosecution produced 3 widows as witnesses who gave their testimony in a camera trail, meaning only the judges, said
witness, prosecution and defence lawyerswere present during testimony. Hosen Bewa, whose husband was killed by the
Pakistani army during the raid, said that she heard from local elders that it was Kamaruzzaman who led the army into the
village and was present when the atrocities took place.
Hafiza Bewa, one such witness, claimed to see Kamaruzzaman at the scene, but she never claimed so in the original testimony that she gave to the Investigation Officer (IO) earlier.
Korfuli Bewa, another such witness, said that she heard of Kamaruzzaman involvement from the elders of the village. None
of the witnesses claimed to have seen/known the accused in the statement they offered to IO, this contradicts the statement they gave in the court. This is in fact a major contradiction.
Interestingly, many of these widows including Korfuli Bewa were interviewed in a book named Sohagpurer Bodhoba Konnara that documented the Sohagpur genocide. Kamaruzzaman s name did not came up in any interviews or incidents.
In response, defence team present a very strong witness. He was from a victim family who lost his family and everything
when the Pakistani Army raided their village. He claimed that Kamaruzzaman was never associated with the incident for last
40 years, not even after Shohagpur was recognised as Bidhoba Polli in 2007. It is only associated since 2011 after prosecution filed the formal charge. He also mentioned that people of the village are well aware that the prosecution witnesses
received cash and privileges from govt to lie against the accused.
The trial was a sham. The International community, legal experts, authorities, the United Nations, and human rights groups
have expressed their concerns regarding the Tribunal and criticised it for blatantly disregarding fair trial standards. The international community has also criticised the law governing the Tribunal, ICTA 1973, for being far below any national or international standards. Apart from the law being substandard and mean towards the defendants, the Tribunal itself was deliberately unfair, which became clear during the trial proceeding.
Human Rights organizations criticise death penalty decision
The International Commission of Jurists and Amnesty International have condemend the death penalty decisions, both in
statements a couple of days ago.
The International Commission of Jurists stated in its 3 November statement:
It is unfortunate that Bangladeshi courts continue to hand down one death sentence after the other, said Sam Zarifi, ICJs
Director for Asia and the Pacific. While it is essential that those responsible for committing atrocities during the Bangladeshi
war of liberation are prosecuted and brought to justice in fair trials, the death penalty perpetuates the cycle of violence and
is a perversion of justice.
Amnesty International stated in its most recent statement:
Bangladesh must immediately impose a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition of the death
penalty and ensure that political interference does not mar judicial processes, Amnesty International said after the
confirmation of two fresh death sentences over two days.
Bangladeshs Supreme Court today upheld the death sentence against Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, a senior leader
of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party. Kamaruzzaman was first sentenced to death in May 2013, on charges of
involvement in killings, by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a Bangladeshi court examining the events of the
countrys 1971 Independence War.
The relentless push to impose death sentences in Bangladesh is deeply worrying. After a hiatus of nine months
since the last death sentence was announced, three more men have now been sentenced to the gallows in the
space of less than a week, said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty Internationals Bangladesh Researcher.

Far from bringing justice to the millions of victims of the Independence War and their family members, executions
will only perpetuat
will only perpetuate a cycle of violence.

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman: A Legendary Personality

A Politian Joined Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in 1977 and performed different duties.
Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami at the time of execution.
A successful journalist In 1983 he joined The Daily Sangram as the Editor. Before that he worked as a journalist
since the 80s
He took charge of the prominent Bengali weekly Sonar Bangla as its Editor in January 1983. Sonar Bangla became
very popular for his strong and unequivocal writing against the military dictatorship during that time. Since then
he found ways to influence every major political uprising through his writings and forward the cause of democracy, freedom, liberty, and justice. He was also worked as the executive editor of Daily Sangram from 1983 to
1993. He was also member of national press club.
As one of the senior journalists he also led a delegation team of journalist to Saudi Arabia in 1984. The team
consisted many renowned journalists of that time, like: Late Sanaullah Noori, Akhter Ul Alam, Iqbal Sobhan
Chowdhury, etc
As a Social Worker Besides his political activities Mr. Kamaruzzaman is also involved in many social and charity
works. He established many educational institutions, orphanages, libraries, clinics, and mosques for the people of
his hometown Sherpur.
Sherpur Darussalam Trust was established to oversee his charity works. In times of crisis and natural disaster he
actively collected aid from various sources and donated much of his own resources to help the poor and the
distressed. They were relocated and resettled to their previous glory.
He used his political influence to avail many humanitarian and development projects in Sherpur like a 100-bed
orphanage for girls and construction of many roads, bridges, and highways in Sherpur. His charity work was never
limited to any particular group or religion. It was available to whoever were affected and devastated.
As a Writer Mr. Kamaruzzaman is one of those few Bangladeshi politicians who have significantly contributed to
the political literature of the country. He has eight published books to his credit that have become collectibles
and a few are in the process of being published.
Most of the books are in Bengali and one in English, titled Islam and Democracy. Most of his books deal with
Islamic politics, its compatibility with democracy, the challenges of the West, and pragmatic ways to bridge the
gap between Islamic and Western civilization.
Traveling the World and Meeting World Leaders Mr. Kamaruzzaman travelled to many countries of the world and
met many world leaders. In 1990 he visited Iran as a state guest and met Iranian leaders like Ali Khomeni and
Ayatullah Jannati. He also met other world leaders like Imam Bukhari of India, Mufti Fajlullah of Lebanon, Nawaz
Sharif of Pakistan, and Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia.
In 1992 he visited India, Pakistan, and Nepal with late Jamaat leader Abbas Ali Khan. The team met Indian leaders
like Atal Bihari Bajpai and IK Gujral, both later became Prime Minister of India. He also met Pakistani president
Ghulam Ishak Khan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Kazi Hussain Ahmed.
He visited Malaysia several times, attended many conference and seminars and met Malaysian leaders like then
Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Chief Minister of Kelantan Nik Abdul Aziz, Chief Minister of Teranganu
Ustad Hadi Awang, President of ABIM Azam Abdur Rahman, and leader of Justice Party Chandra Muzaffar.
Among other South-East Asian countries he also visited Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.
Mr. Kamaruzzaman attended many conferences across many countries in Europe, including Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, and United Kingdom. He also met officials of Vatican city and handed over Jamaat Ameer
Gulam Azams letter to Pope John Paul II. In 1996 he attended the Democratic Party Convention at the United
States. He met many American leaders there and visited many American cities. In 2000 he went there again to
attend a conference organized by Muslim Ummah In America. He visited most of the Middle-Eastern countries
including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Brunei, Yeamen etc.
As part of a National Democratic Institute (NDI) program Mr. Kamaruzzaman attended many conferences organized by NDI in many countries. He also volunteered as an instructor for NDI in many workshops to teach young
and future leaders. In 2005 he attended an international conference Convention of Islamic Democrats in Istanbul, Turkey. He also visited the United Kingdom and met British foreign secretary, member of parliaments, and
leaders of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. There he visited the House of Lords and enjoyed Prime
Ministers Q&A session.
Also in 2005 Mr. Kamaruzzaman visited the United States again and he met many American leaders like congressman Joseph Crowley, few other congressmen, deputy secretary Gastright, and organizers of NDI, IRI, CAIR, etc.

Martyrs are Alive

And do not say of those who
are killed in the way of Allah
that they are dead; they are
alive even though you have no
knowledge of their life. We
shall certainly test you by
afflicting fear, hunger, loss of
properties and lives and fruits
upon you. Give glad tidings,
then, to those who remain
patient and when an affliction
smites them, they say: Verily
to Allah do we belong, and it is
to Him that we are destined to
return.
(Al-Qurn 2:154-56)

Read more to
learn about the
Kamruzzaman
Trial
Rolling Blog on Kamaruzzman
execution
http://
bangladeshwarcrimes.blogspot.ca/2014/11/
rolling-blog-on-kamaruzzmanexecution.html
Kamaruzzaman - the Sohagpur
mass killing: the offence for which
he was sentenced to death.
http://
bangladeshwarcrimes.blogspot.ca/2014/11/
kamaruzzaman-sohagpur-masskilling.html
Kamruzzaman
Trial: the full judgement
http://www.ict-bd.org/ict2/ICT2%
20judgment/MKZ.pdf

Give Kamaruzzaman his full right

Lord Avebury
http://cbsonline.org/?p=151

When the Ends Dont Justify the

Means: The Morality of Justice
in Bangladesh
http://justiceinconflict.org/2014/11/05/
when-the-ends-dont-justify-the-meansthe-morality-of-justice-in-bangladesh/

Why Kamaruzzaman should not be hanged

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is a renowned intellectual, writer, journalist, and a senior leader of Bangladesh
Jamaat-e-Islami. He is the editor of the Weekly Shonar Bangla, has authored 8 books, and penned hundreds
of articles in various newspapers and periodicals. He joined Jamaat-e-Islami in 1979 and became the partys
Assistant Secretary General in 1992. He was also a popular student leader and a founding member of Bangladesh Islami Chhattra Shibir. He served as the Central President of Shibir in 1978 and 79. Mr Kamaruzzaman
has been representing his party in democratic elections since 1986 with outstanding results.
On 13 July 2010, Mr Kamaruzzaman was arrested by Awami League government, the political arch-rival of Jamaat-e
-Islami, on false charges and is now being convicted to death by a politically motivated tribunal.

There are various reasons for Awami League to target a popular leader like him:
1. Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, the only political party in Bangladesh with an honest
leadership capable of moving this country forward from the ruins of corruption, poverty, and injustice.
2. Kamaruzzaman represents the younger generation of leaders within Jamaat-e-Islami who are open to much
needed reform and reorganisation of the party around the cultural synthesis of the people of Bangladesh.
3. Kamaruzzaman has been an outspoken critic of the ruling Awami League and through his writings he made people aware of governments corruption, oppression, and abuse of power.
4. Kamaruzzaman is one of the few leaders with a vision for Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh. With his massive
grassroots support and his intellectual wherewithal, he is in a perfect position to bring his vision to reality.
5. Kamaruzzaman became an international face of Jamaat-e-Islami due to his diplomatic connections around the
world and in Bangladesh. His understanding of the world politics and ability to elegantly represent Jamaat at the
world stage was unparalleled.
With Kamaruzzaman out of the equation, the Awami League assumed that, the Jamaat-e-Islami will be a weaker
political force unable to cope with changing socio-political landscape.

What are the allegations against him?

The fascist Awami regime has brought several false and fabricated allegations against Mr Kamaruzzaman. These
include allegations of murder, mass murder/genocide, torture, humiliation, plunder, etc. during Bangladeshs War
of Independence in 1971. A total of 7 charges were brought against him. Mr Kamaruzzaman denied all of these
baseless charges and pleaded not-guilty.

Why do you say the charges are false and fabricated?

In general, there are 3 main reasons that disqualify the allegations:
1. The charges are newly manufactured and were never heard of! Though the alleged incidents took place more
than 40 years ago, no such allegations were brought against Mr Kamaruzzaman by the relatives of the victims or
the state until a military-backed Awami League claimed victory in 2009 elections.
2. Immediately after the war, the new government of Bangladesh identified, punished, and in some cases killed the
local collaborators of the Pakistani Army. Though Mr Kamaruzzaman was arrested after the war, the authorities
did not find any complaint against him and he was released immediately.
3. Mr Kamaruzzaman was born in 1952. During the war, he was only 19 years old! It is impossible that an 19-yearold would assume leadership role of a large paramilitary force like the Al-Badr or direct a professional armed force
like the Pakistani Army, as claimed by the delusional state prosecutors.

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