East Pakistan Crisis Violation of Humani

Md.
Monirul Islam Rahul

LL.B Hon’s , LL.M SEU
Apprentice Lawyer, Dhaka Judge Court
Email- monirul.desh.71@gmail.com
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Abstract:
That the assignment topics on East Pakistan Crisis & Violation of Humanitarian Law in 1971,
first I have discussed about the East Pakistan Crisis in1971 and cause of war of the Independence
in 1971, that I have discussed about the illegal acts of the Pakistan Armies in 1971, Such:
Genocide, Operation Searchlight, Killing of Intellectual, the Civil war between the both parties,
Attacks of Biharis, Rape, Sexual Violence etc. That thereafter I have discussed activities of the
Pakistan and their legal position under International Penal Law and Violation of International Bill
of Human Rights comprises the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The violation
of fundamental Rules of the International Humanitarian law, Right to Self-determination in
International Humanitarian Law and Violation of Geneva Convention 12 August, 1949 and I
have discussed reference and comment of ICRC about war of independence in 1971 and own
observation in this assignment.
Md. Monirul Islam Rahul
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Introduction:
Atrocious and dreadful crimes were committed during the nine month-long war of liberation in
1971, which resulted in the birth of Bangladesh, an independent state. Some three million people
were killed, nearly quarter million women were raped and over 10 million people were forced to
take refuge in India to escape brutal persecution at home, during the nine-month battle and
struggle of Bangalee nation. The perpetrators of the crimes could not be brought to book, and this
left an unfathomable abrasion on the country`s political awareness and the whole nation. The
1971 Bangladesh genocide refers to the bloodshed and human rights abuses in East Pakistan
during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Massacres, killings, rape, arson and systematic elimination
of religious minorities (particularly Hindus), political dissidents and the members of the liberation
forces of Bangladesh were conducted by the Pakistan Army with support from paramilitary
militias the Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams formed by the radical Islamist Jamaat e Islami party.
The war also witnessed sectarian violence between Bengalis and Urdu speaking Biharis. The
casualties estimated by different sources, numbered between 300,000 to 3 million.
East Pakistan crisis 1971:
East Pakistan Crisis was a critical situation at the time of liberation of war and many occurrences
has been happen at the time of liberation of war and the Pakistan Armies committed an error of
provision of the humanitarian law.
Background of liberation war of Bangladesh:
The main reason for which the nation fought for liberation against Pakistan was the audacity and
denial of the Pakistani rulers to recognize the electoral triumph of the Awami League under the
leadership of Shekih Majibur Rahaman in 1970. As a result the Bengalis stood up and demanded
independence.1
Causes of liberation war of Bangladesh:
The causes of our liberation war are rooted in the social discrimination, political deprivation and
economic exploitation. The people of this region had long been exploited by the Pakistani
authorities like the colonial period. The Bengalis were treated like second class citizen in their
own country. They were discriminated in govt. services, in business and in getting govt. right and
privileges. These created anger and resentment among the Bengalis.
1
http://banglablogbd.com/liberation-war-bangladesh/
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Political manipulation and economic exploitation were other two important reasons of liberation
war. Development programmes were mainly taken up for the West Pakistan and mills and
factories and infrastructural development were done there for which East Pakistan provided its
earning from export. Moreover, when Pakistani authorities denied handing over power to the
elected Bengalis leadership, it became obvious that it was not possible then to co-exist as two
provinces and it was time for liberation. These social and cultural, economic and political factors
end to our liberation war.2
Declaration of war:
On 7th March 1971, Shekih Majibur Rahaman while addressing a huge crowd in the historic race
course ground declared that the struggle of this time is struggle for freedom, the struggle of this
time is struggle for independence. On 26th March, Major Ziaur Rahman an officer in the Pakistan
army declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Shekih Majibur Rahaman from
Kalurghat Radio Centre. From then, the students, farmers, laborers, all and sundry joined the
liberation war and after taking guarilla training, fought with the Pakistan occupation forces.
Colonel M.A.G. Osmani was made the Chief Commander of liberation forces and the country was
divided into eleven sectors under eleven army officers to conduct the war.3
Crisis at the time of liberation of war:
The Bangladesh Liberation War also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply
the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the
Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan and the 1971 Bangladesh
genocide. It resulted in the independence of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The war began
after the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight against
the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971. It pursued the systematic elimination
of nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel.
The junta annulled the results of the 1970 elections and arrested Prime Minister-elect Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman.
Rural and urban areas across East Pakistan saw extensive military operations and air strikes to
suppress the tide of civil disobedience that formed following the 1970 election stalemate. The
Pakistan Army created radical religious militias – the Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams – to assist
it during raids on the local populace.[11][12] [13] Members of the Pakistani military and supporting
militias engaged in mass murder, deportation and genocidal rape. The capital Dacca was the scene
of numerous massacres, including the Dacca University killings. An estimated 10 million Bengali
refugees fled to neighbouring India, while 30 million were internally displaced.[14] Sectarian
2
Ibid
3
http://banglablogbd.com/liberation-war-bangladesh/
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violence broke out between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking immigrants. An academic consensus
prevails that the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military were a genocide.4
The postponement of the Constituent Assembly came as a shattering disillusionment to the

Awami League and their supporters throughout East Pakistan. It was seen as a betrayal and as
proof of the determination of the army and of the West Pakistan authorities to deny them the
fruits of their electoral victory.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s reaction was to call a five-day general strike (hartal) throughout East
Pakistan. In a statement on 2 March, he said *In this critical hour it is the sacred duty of each and
every Bengali in every walk of life, including government employees, not to cooperate with anti-
people forces and instead to do everything in their power to foil the conspiracy against
Bangladesh The response was complete. Normal life was paralysed. Transport and
communications ceased. All factories, offices and shops were closed. Any who attempted to open
them were roughly handled by Awami League vigilantes. The streets were filled with marching,
chanting, protesting processions.
At first the army tried to assert their authority and this resulted in Dacca, Khulna, Jessore and
elsewhere in a number of clashes between them and demonstrators and looters, in which the army
opened fire on unarmed civilians. The Pakistan authorities later stated that a total of 172 persons
had been killed in this period, but some of them were killed in intercommunal clashes.
As from March 3, the army were ordered to return to their cantonments and remained there until
March 25. The Pakistan authorities say that their purpose was to avoid further clashes during the
period of negotiation. Some have suggested that the army were holding their fire until they were
ready to strike, but this seems unlikely as few, if any, units were flown into East Pakistan between
4 and 25 March. Whatever the reason for the withdrawal, it had the effect of keeping down the
violence in a period of extreme tension.
Apart from some serious riots in Chittagong on and after the night of 3 March, and some less
severe incidents on the same day at Jessore and Khulna, there was remarkably little communal
violence during the hartal. The events at Chittagong on the night of 3/4 March are described as
follow in the Pakistan White Paper:
At Chittagong, violent mobs led by Awami League storm troopers attacked the Wireless Colony
and several other localities, committing wanton acts of loot, arson, killing and rape. In one
locality (Ferozeshah Colony), 700 houses were set on fire and their inmates including men,
women and children were burnt to death. Those who tried to flee, were either killed or seriously
4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War#cite_note-13
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wounded. Apart from those burnt alive, whose bodies were found later, over 300 persons were
killed or wounded on 3 and 4 March5
Crimes and of Liberation War of Bangladesh 1971 and violation of the

International Humanitarian law:
At the time of war many was crimes has committed by the Pakistani Armies which
fully prohibited by the Geneva Convention IV and Protocol I and said event as
follows:
Genocide:
Bangladeshi authorities claim that as many as 3 million people were killed, although the
Hamoodur Rahman Commission, an official Pakistan Government investigation, put the figure as
low as 26,000 civilian casualties. The international media and reference books in English have
also published figures which vary greatly from 200,000 to 3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole,
with 300,000 to 500,000 being a figure quoted by news outlets such as the BBC for the estimated
death toll as counted by independent researchers. As a result of the conflict, a further eight to ten
million people, mostly Hindus, fled the country at the time to seek refuge in neighboring India.
Many of those killed were the victims of militias who fought with the West Pakistan Army:
Razakars, Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces, at the instruction of the Pakistani Army. There are many
mass graves in Bangladesh, and more are continually being discovered (such as one in an old well
near a mosque in Dhaka, located in the non-Bengali region of the city, which was discovered in
August 1999). The first night of war on Bengalis, which is documented in telegrams from the
American Consulate in Dhaka to the United States State Department, saw indiscriminate killings
of students of Dhaka University and other civilians. Women were raped, tortured and killed
during the war though the exact numbers are not known. The numbers are subject of debate with
some sources quoting figures as high as 400,000. One particular revelation concerns 563 young
Bengali women, some only 18, who were held captive inside Dhaka's dingy military cantonment
since the first days of the fighting. They were seized from Dhaka University and private homes
and forced into military brothels, with some of the women carrying war babies being released.
There was significant sectarian violence not only perpetrated by the West Pakistani army, but also
by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis. On 16 December 2002,
the George Washington University's National Security Archive published a collection of
declassified documents, consisting mostly of communications between US embassy officials and
USIS centers in Dhaka and India, and officials in Washington DC. These documents show that
US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms selective
genocide and genocide to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. The complete
5
The Crisis in East Pakistan, Government of Pakistan, 5 August, 1971, p. 31.
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chronology of events as reported to the Nixon administration can be found on the Department of
State website. Every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh and some international
publications on genocide and human rights abuses use the term genocide to describe the event.6
“A writer Anthony Mascarenhas, a Pakistani reporter, and printed in the UK's Sunday Times, it
exposed for the first time the scale of the Pakistan army's brutal campaign to suppress its
breakaway eastern province in 1971.
Nobody knows exactly how many people were killed, but certainly a huge number of people lost
their lives. Independent researchers think that between 300,000 and 500,000 died. The
Bangladesh government puts the figure at three million”7
Operation Searchlight
Operation Searchlight was a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistani Army to curb
elements of the separatist Bengali nationalist movement in erstwhile East Pakistan in March 1971.
Ordered by the government in West Pakistan, this was seen as the sequel to Operation Blitz which
had been launched in November 1970. According to journalist Azadur Rahman Chandan,
Operation Searchlight was drafted on 18-20 March 1971 in Dhaka. In the same sitting, General
Farman wrote down the new plan on a light blue office pad, using an ordinary school pencil.
General Khadim Hussain Raja wrote its second part, which dealt with distribution of resources
and the allocation of tasks to brigades and units. The plan, christened ‘Operation
SEARCHLIGHT’ consisted of sixteen paragraphs It presumed that all Bengali troops, including
regular East Bengal battalions, would revolt in reaction to its execution. They should therefore, be
disarmed. Secondly, the non-cooperation movement launched by Mujib should be deprived of its
leadership by arresting all the prominent Awami League leaders while they were in conference
with the President.. The hand-written plan was read out to General Hamid and Lieutenant-General
Tikka Khan at Flagstaff House on the afternoon of 20 March. But General Hamid deleted the
section of disarming the Bengali troops and later President Yahya excluded the section of
arresting all the prominent Awami League leaders while they were in conference with the
President. The amended plan was distributed to the area commanders on 24 March. The original
plan envisioned taking control of the major cities on 26 March 1971, and then eliminating all
opposition, political or military, within one month. The prolonged Bengali resistance was not
anticipated by Pakistani planners. The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of
the last major town in Bengali hands in mid May.8
6
https://www.academia.edu/8437099/Events_of_Liberation_War_of_Bangladesh_1971_which_violated_the_International_Humanitarian_law
7
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201
8
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Killing of Intellectuals
Rayerbazar killing field photographed immediately after the war started, showing bodies of
intellectuals who demanded a separate, autonomous state from Pakistan (Image courtesy: Rashid
Talukdar, 1971) During the war, the Pakistan Army and its local collaborators carried out a
systematic execution of the leading Bengali intellectuals. A number of professors from Dhaka
University were killed during the first few days of the war. However, the most extreme cases of
targeted killing of intellectuals took place during the last few days of the war. Professors,
journalists, doctors, artists, engineers and writers were rounded up by Pakistan Army and the
Razakar militia in Dhaka, blindfolded, taken to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur,
Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city to be executed en
masse, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur. Allegedly, the Pakistani Army and its paramilitary
arm, the Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces created a list of doctors, teachers, poets, and scholars.
During the nine-month duration of the war, the Pakistani army, with the assistance of local
collaborators systematically executed an estimated 991 teachers, 13 journalists, 49 physicians, 42
lawyers, and 16 writers, artists and engineers. Even after the official ending of the war on 16
December there were reports of killings being committed by either the armed Pakistani soldiers or
by their collaborators. In one such incident, notable film-maker Jahir Raihan was killed on
January 30, 1972 in Mirpur allegedly by the armed Beharis. In memory of the persons who were
killed, December 14 is observed in Bangladesh as Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibosh (Day of the
Martyred Intellectuals). Several notable intellectuals who were killed from the time period of 25
March to 16 December 1971 in different parts of the country include Dhaka University professors
Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev (Philosophy), Dr. Munier Chowdhury (Bengali Literature), Dr.
Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (Bengali Literature), Dr. Anwar Pasha (Bengali Literature), Dr M
Abul Khair (History), Dr. Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta (English Literature), Humayun Kabir (English
Literature), Rashidul Hasan (English Literature) and Saidul Hassan (Physics), Rajshahi University
professors Dr. Hobibur Rahman (Mathematics), Prof Sukhranjan Somaddar (Sanskrit), Prof Mir
Abdul Quaiyum (Psychology) as well as Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee (Cardiologist), Dr. Alim
Chowdhury (Ophthalmologist), Shahidullah Kaiser (Journalist), Nizamuddin Ahmed (Journalist),
Selina Parvin (Journalist), Altaf Mahmud (Lyricist and musician), Dhirendranath Datta
(Politician), and Ranadaprasad Saha (Philanthropist).9
Civil War:
Thus the scene was set for a brutal civil war, in which each side was convinced that the cause they
were fighting for was right. The Pakistan army, the Biharis, the Muslim League and the members
of the Jamaat-e-Islam were fighting for the unity of an Islamic Pakistan. The Bengalis were
fighting for the right to run their own country without interference and exploitation from outside.
9
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The West Pakistanis thought that a short sharp lesson would suffice to subjugate the Bengalis.
They certainly succeeded in the beginning at Dacca. Observers talk of a sullen and cowed
population in a dead city. ‘ It is clear ’, one of them remarked, ‘ that the first aim was terrify
people into submission. All vehicles had soldiers standing with their finger on the trigger of their
automatic weapons . . . I have seen people suddenly stampede from a main road simply because a
military vehicle was seen coming down the road. Similarly, I have seen a stampede simply
because a rickshaw tyre had burst.’
Another writer has described how ‘ within three days, the city was quiet — too quiet. The regime
claimed that everything was returning swiftly to normal, that the miscreants and the criminal
elements had been taken care of. But that normality was no more than the absence of activity, it
was the normality of the graveyard. Tens of thousands had fled Dacca, thousands were dead.
Those who remained had no choice but to carry on as best they could, under the heel of the
occupying army. In so far as fighting subsided, things were ‘ normal ’, otherwise not.’ 8
When the Pakistan forces realised that the initial crack-down had failed to subdue the Bengali
population and that resistance was continuing, they concentrated their attention upon three
groups, Awami Leaguers, intellectuals and students, and the Hindus. Some- times only the men
belonging to these groups were shot. One Pakistani officer is quoted as saying: ‘ We are humane,
we don’t shoot women and children.’ On many occasions, however, women and children were
shot as well.
Attacks on Biharis
There can be no doubt that in many of these towns where there was a substantial Bihari
population, the Bengalis turned against the Biharis during the short period they were in control
and some terrible massacres resulted. Among the places where this happened were Chittagong,
Khulna, Jessore, Comilla, Rangpur, Phulbari, Dinajpur and Mymensingh. In areas where the non-
Bengalis were in a majority, as in some of the railway towns, the Biharis turned and attacked the
Bengalis. For example, in Paksey nearly all the Bengalis who had not fled were murdered.
Thousands of families of unfortunate Muslims, many of them refugees from Bihar who chose
Pakistan at the time of the partition riots in 1947, were mercilessly wiped out. Women were raped,
or had their breasts tom out with specially fashioned knives. Children did not escape the horror:
the lucky ones were killed with their parents; but many thousands of others must go through what
life remains for them with eyes gouged out and limbs amputated. More than 20,000 bodies of
non-Bengalis have been found in the main towns, such as Chittagong, Khulna and Jessore. The
real toll, I was told everywhere in East Bengal, may have been as high as 100,000, for thousands
of non-Bengalis have vanished without a trace. The Government of Pakistan has let the world
know about that first horror. What it has suppressed is the second and worse horror which
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followed when its own army took over the killing. West Pakistan officials privately calculate that
altogether both sides have killed 250,000 people.
Rape
Another feature on which very many accounts agree is the whole- sale rape of women and
young girls by Pakistan soldiers. The Bangladesh Government allege that over 70,000 women
were made pregnant as a result of these rapes. Whatever the precise numbers, the teams of
American and British surgeons carrying out abortions and the widespread government efforts
to persuade people to accept these girls into the community, testify to the scale on which
raping occurred. The officers turned a blind eye to this savagery, and when challenged denied
that it occurred. In many cases the officers themselves kept young girls locked up to serve their
pleasure.
Sexual violence:
Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion,
unwanted sexual comments or advances, acts to traffic a person or acts directed against a person's
sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.[1][2][3] It occurs in times of peace and
armed conflict situations, is widespread and is considered to be one of the most traumatic,
pervasive, and most common human rights violations.
Sexual violence is a serious public health problem and has a profound short or long-term impact
on physical and mental health, such as an increased risk of sexual and reproductive health
problems or an increased risk of suicide or HIV infection. Murder occurring either during a sexual
assault or as a result of an honor killing in response to a sexual assault is also a factor of sexual
violence. Though women and girls suffer disproportionately from these aspects,[5] sexual
violence can occur to anybody at any age; it is an act of violence that can be perpetrated by
parents, caregivers, acquaintances and strangers, as well as intimate partners. It is rarely a crime
of passion, and is rather an aggressive act that frequently aims to express power and dominance
over the victim.
Sexual violence remains highly stigmatized in all settings, thus levels of disclosure of the assault
vary between regions. In general, it is a widely underreported phenomenon, thus available data
tend to underestimate the true scale of the problem. In addition, sexual violence is also a neglected
area of research, thus deeper understanding of the issue is imperative in order to promote a
coordinated movement against it. Domestic sexual violence is distinguished from conflict-related
sexual violence. Often, people who coerce their spouses into sexual acts believe their actions are
legitimate because they are married. In times of conflict, sexual violence tends to be an inevitable
repercussion of warfare trapped in an ongoing cycle of impunity.[8][9] Rape of women and of
men is often used as a method of warfare (war rape), as a form of attack on the enemy, typifying
P a g e | 10
the conquest and degradation of its women or men or captured male or female fighters. Even if
strongly prohibited by IHRL, Customary law and IHL, enforcement mechanisms are still fragile
or even non-existent in many corners of the world. 10
Violation of Fundamental Rules of the Humanitarian Law in 1971:
The Pakistan armies killed the Bangladeshi civilian people and Muktijudda by violating the
fundamental rules of the International Humanitarian according to modern international
Humanitarian law is embodied primarily in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and in rules of
Customary Law. In many respects the written texts are an expression of absolutely binding
international customary law (jus cogens) The fundamental rules or modern International
Humanitarian Law have been summarized be a group of Red Cross Lawyers any he following
wards;
As per the said fundamental rules my personal opinion the Pakistan Armies fully violated the
above mentioned fundamental rules and they were entered into the house of the civilian people
without taking permission and searched their house without following the rules, the Pakistan
armies killed, raped and such offence or has been violated the prohibition of International
Humanitarian Law.
Right of Self-Determination in International Law:
The principle of the right of a people to self-determination seems self-evident, but there is no
more explosive issue in today’s world. What constitutes a people? In what circumstances can they
claim the right? What is the extent of the right? Does it include a right to secession? How is the
right to be reconciled with the principle of the territorial integrity of each Member State of the
United Nations ?
The problem was succinctly stated by U Thant in his ‘ Introduction to the Report of the Secretary-
General ’ in 1971:
I feel obliged to mention a problem which has been almost daily in my mind during my time as
Secretary-General. I refer to the violation of human rights within the frontiers of a state.
Theoretically, the United Nations has little standing in such situations — and they are all too
common...
‘ A related problem which often confronts us and to which as yet no acceptable answer has been
found in the provisions of the Charter, is the conflict between the principles of the integrity of
sovereign States and the assertion of the right to self-determination, and even secession, by a
large group within a sovereign State. Here again, as in the case of human rights, a dangerous
deadlock can paralyse the ability of the U.N. to help those involved.
10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_violence
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The notion of the right of a people to self-determination amounts to a de jure recognition of a

sociological phenomenon: the concept that certain human groups constitute ‘ peoples ’ and that a
people constitutes an entity having a legal personality or status analogous with that of a human
person, and is accordingly entitled to certain rights and fundamental liberties which, like those of
the individual, must be respected. In practice the sovereignty which, according to the principle of
self-determination, should rest with peoples, is assumed by organs of the state, and in many if not
most states of the world any attempt by a group within an existing state to assert the right of self-
determination will be regarded as a form of treason. In consequence, the will to assert the right is
often manifested by a violent challenge to an established power with a view to obtaining by force
a change of status, the legitimacy of which will be sanctioned if and only if the use of force
carries the day.
The concept of self-determination finds its origin in the modern concept of nationalism in which
the sovereignty of the feudal Prince is replaced by the sovereignty of the people. This
revolutionary and recent intervention arose from the evolution of ideas during the 17th and 18th
centuries which were institutionalised in the French Revolution. The Declaration of the Rights of
Man established the legal basis for these nationalist and revolutionary rights, the rights of peoples
and of individuals. The socio-juridical transformation was radical. All the attributes formerly
attaching to the person of the Prince were conferred on the ‘ sovereign people ’. The new
sovereign became a new socio-juridical entity, the Nation, in which was vested the sole authority
to exercise the right of sovereignty.
If we consider the question in this original context, we are led to the conclusion that the right of a
people to self-determination means, legally speaking, the right of a people to constitute, either
alone or jointly with other peoples, a sovereign nation. This interpretation is confirmed by the
Charter of the United Nations, whose Preamble opens with the words:
‘ We the Peoples of the United Nations . . .
thus marking the difference between People and Nation. And by Article 1 (2) of the Charter, one
of the purposes of the United Nations is:
‘To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights
and self-determination of peoples
It is even more clearly stated in the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and on Civil and Political Rights. Article 1, which is common to both Covenants, reads:
P a g e | 12
1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely
determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development;
2. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the
administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization
of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the
provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.’
The important principle is, therefore, established that the duty to ‘promote the realization of the
right of self-determination ’ is imposed upon all State Parties and not merely upon the colonial
powers. This implies some limitation upon the absolute sovereignty of existing nation states.
Article 1 of the two International Geneva conventions on Human Rights follows the wording of
Article 2 of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and
Peoples. Similar terms are to be found again in the important ‘ Declaration of Principles of
International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among States in Accordance
with the Charter of the United Nations which was approved by the General Assembly in 1970 by
Resolution 2625 (XXV). This is the most authoritative statement of the principles of international
law relevant to the questions of self-determination and territorial integrity. The conflicting
principles are stated in the Preamble to the Declaration in these terms:
“The Geneva Conventions of 1949 proved a landmark in international law by formulating

categories of offences Which are prohibited in armed conflicts ‘ not of an international character"
The laws of war as formulated in the Hague Convention applied only to international wars.
The Geneva Conventions
Article VI of the 1948 Genocide Convention provides: Persons charged with genocide or any of
the other acts enumerated in Article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the
territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have
jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.
Geneva Conventions (1949) Article 49 of the 1949 Geneva Convention I, Article 50 of the 1949
Geneva Convention II, Article 129 of the 1949 Geneva Convention III and Article 146 of the
1949 Geneva Convention IV provide: The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any
legislation necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to
be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention defined in the following
Article. Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to
have committed, or to have ordered to be committed grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva
Conventions, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts. It
may also, if it prefers, and in accordance with the provisions of its own legislation, hand such
P a g e | 13
persons over for trial to another High Contracting Party concerned, provided such High
Contracting Party has made out a prima facie case.11
Article 3, which is common to all the Geneva Conventions, must be regarded as the basic text in
this field. It has the advantage of being accepted unquestionably as representing the minimum of
humanitarian law. It has been recognised almost universally, since virtually all countries are
Parties to the Convention.
This Article also provides:
‘In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of
the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum,
the following provisions:
(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have
laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any
other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction
founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this
end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever
with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and
torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating arid degrading treatment;
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment
pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are
recognised as indispensable by civilised peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for
During the drafting of this Article some states sought to restrict its application to cases where the
insurgent, forces had attained a certain level of stability and authority, such as having an
organized military force and an authority responsible for its acts, acting within a determinate
territory and having the means of respecting and ensuring respect for the Convention. These
amendments were not accepted and in our view the opinion expressed in the Commentary of the
International Committee of the Red Cross that the scope of this article must be as wide as
possible is to be preferred. The obligation is absolute for each of the parties and the reciprocity
clause in the original draft was deliberately dropped.
11
P a g e | 14
While there was never any period when East Pakistan was free from attacks by the insurgent
forces, it is probably true to say that by May 1971 there were few if any areas which were in the
control of the insurgents. However, when the Mukti Bahini returned from being equipped and
trained in India, there were substantial areas, particularly rural areas, which were under their
control. Some of the insurgent commanders set up forms of courts to administer rough justice to
1collaborators ’, but there were no regularly constituted courts as required by paragraph (1) (d) of
the Article. If the Article were to apply only on a basis of mutuality, the insurgents would not be
entitled to claim the benefit of the article, at least in relation to paragraph (1) (d). As we have
shown, however, the Article is binding on both sides, irrespective of the compliance or capacity
to comply of the other party.
There is hardly a phrase of this Article which does not appear to have been violated on a massive
scale by the Pakistani army and auxiliary forces throughout the period from 25 March to the
surrender of the Pakistani forces on 16 December. The evidence indicates that breaches of these
provisions also occurred, though on a lesser scale, in the attacks made by some Bengali units
against Biharis and other non-Bengali civilians.
One of the weaknesses of the Geneva Conventions is that they contain no provisions for sanctions
in the case of breaches of Article 3. The articles of the Convention which impose a duty to search
out and bring to justice persons who have committed ‘ grave breaches ’ (e.g. Articles 146 and 147
of the Fourth Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War) applies
only to offences against persons or property protected by the Conventions, and this.12
The protection of women in the Geneva convention and their additional protocols
The Conventions and Protocols protect women both as members of the civilian population not
taking part in hostilities and also as combatants, fallen into the hands of the enemy. We shall
examine the various aspects of this protection in the following paragraphs, giving particular
emphasis to differentiated treatment accorded to women in the light of the following principles.
Principles
International humanitarian law gives expression in law to the fundamental principle of the
equality of men and women, specifying this principle in clauses forbidding discrimination.
Articles 12 of the First and Second Conventions, 16 of the Third Convention, 27 of the Fourth
Convention and Article 75 of Additional Protocol I and Article 4 of Additional Protocol II
(referred to below as C.I, C.II, C.III, C.IV, P.I and P.II) provide for treatment "without any
adverse distinction founded on sex " It is also specified that women "shall in all cases benefit by
12 12 http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/1972/06/Bangladesh-events-East-Pakistan-1971-thematic-report-1972-eng.pdf
P a g e | 15
treatment as favorable as that granted to men" (Article 14, C. III). This means that women are
entitled to all the rights and freedoms specified by the Conventions. Accordingly, any
discriminatory measure which does not result from the application of the Conventions is
prohibited. However, the prohibition of discrimination is not a prohibition of differentiation. It is
for this reason that distinctions are prohibited only to the extent that they are unfavourable.
Equality could easily be transformed into injustice if it were to be applied to situations which are
inherently unequal and without taking into account circumstances relating to the state of health,
the age and the sex of protected persons.The principle of equal treatment is extended by the
further principle that "women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex" (Article 12, C.I
and C.II, Article 14, C.III). This particular regard is not legally defined, but regardless of the
status accorded to women, it covers certain concepts such as physiological specificity, honour
and modesty, pregnancy and childbirth. International humanitarian law makes particular
reservations concerning the female sex in various cases, either in general terms ( without
prejudice to the provisions relating to their sex ) or in more specific terms (separate dormitories,
separate places of detention). One should not deduce from this that the principle of differentiated
treatment is not applicable in cases where it is not specifically mentioned (protection against
insults and public curiosity, questioning, searches, food, clothing, intellectual, educational and
recreational pursuits, sports and games, labor, conditions for transfer, prisoners' representatives,
identification). An express reference tends to strengthen the scope of the principle, rather than to
limit its application, and differentiated treatment is accorded to women even if it is not explicitly
mentioned.
It would also be wrong to draw conclusions about a lack of special protection through the
following examples. With respect to the labor of prisoners of war, the principle of special
treatment for women is referred to (Article 49, C. III), while it is not in the case of women
internees (Article 95, C. IV). As to the searching of prisoners of war, differentiated treatment is
not specifically mentioned (Article 18, C. III), whereas it is in the case of a woman internee
(Article 96, C. IV). At the time of capture, a prisoner of war must be searched immediately, for
obvious reasons of security. It is not always possible under these conditions to have a woman
available to make the search, whereas in the slower procedure of civilian internment this can be
arranged. With respect to work by civilian internees, this is optional and there is thus no need to
refer to the principle of differentiated treatment.13
Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention, I.C.R.C., 1958,

Geneva, pp. 35-37.
does not include victims of offences under Article 3. Nevertheless, the duties imposed by Article
3 remain, and it is submitted that an international court set up to try offenders under
international penal law would have jurisdiction to consider charges brought for breaches of the
Article.
13
Ibid
P a g e | 16
The provisions of the Conventions will also apply in respect of war crimes committed during the
period of the international war, i.e. between 4 and 16 December.
Both sides have accused the other of the crime of ‘genocide ’, and in view of the scale of the
killings this is hardly surprising. Genocide has become a highly emotive term, often used by
laymen to describe any large scale massacre of civilians. To lawyers, however, the term has a
more precise connotation.
Article I and the relevant parts of Article II of the Genocide Convention, 1948, read as follows:
‘Article I. The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide; whether committed in time of peace or
in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to
punish.’
`Article II . In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious groups as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part;
This Convention was ratified by Pakistan, and under Article V, Pakistan undertook to enact the
necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the Convention under internal law and to
provide effective penalties for persons guilty of genocide. At the time of the hostilities in 1971
Pakistan had not yet complied with this obligation and genocide did not therefore constitute a
crime under the domestic law of Pakistan. However, as Article I declared genocide to be ‘ a crime
under international law as soon as Pakistan ratified the Convention, genocide became an
international crime applicable to all persons within the territory of Pakistan.
Article III of the Convention provides that ‘ the following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;14
14 14 http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/1972/06/Bangladesh-events-East-Pakistan-1971-thematic-report-1972-eng.pdf
P a g e | 17
Geneva Convention against Torture:

Article 5 of the 1984 Convention against Torture provides: Each State Party shall take such
measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the offences referred to in article 4
in the following cases:
(a) When the offences are committed in any territory under its jurisdiction or on board a ship or
aircraft registered in that State;
(b) When the alleged offender is a national of that State;
(c) When the victim is a national of that State if that State considers it appropriate.15
Own Observation:
On the night of Mar 25, 1971, the Pakistan Army launched "Operation Searchlight", a brutal and
barbaric military assault on an unsuspecting population to crush the Bengali movement for rights
and justice that had turned to a fight for freedom in the face of persistent denials. After nine
months of bloody war, Bangladesh emerged on the world map on Dec 16, surfing through an
'ocean of blood'. Nearly three million people, mostly Bengali civilians, died in these nine months,
more than a quarter of a million Bengali women were dishonoured - something that makes
Bangladesh's freedom a very hard-earned one. The war of independence is a struggle for the
liberation of a nation from the foreign rule. Our struggle for independence is a history for the
nation of Bangladesh. This war for independence started on the 26th March in 1971 and lasted till
our victory on the 16th of December.
The armies of the Pakistan violated the human rights and the Pakistan violated the four Geneva
Convection 12 august 1949 and the Pakistan the lot of propaganda has been exercised at the event
of 1971 which is fully violation the prohibition of the Geneva Convention 12 August 1949.
Conclusion:
During the civil war from 25 March to 3 December and during the international war from 4 to 18
December, massive violations of human rights occurred in East Pakistan. These were committed
(a) by the Pakistani army and auxiliary forces against Bengalis, and in particular against members
of the Awami League, students and Hindus, and (b) by Bengali insurgent forces and mobs against
Biharis and other non-Bengalis (Part II (b)).
These violations involved the indiscriminate killing of civilians, including women and children;
the attempt to exterminate or drive out of the country a large part of the Hindu population of
approxi- mately 10 million people; the arrest, torture and killing without trial of suspects; t|ie
raping of women; the destruction of villages and towns; and the looting of property. The scale of
these crimes was massive, but it is impossible to quantify them. Figures given by both sides tend
to be greatly exaggerated (Part II (b)).
15
P a g e | 18
References:
 Pierre, Stephen and Robert Payne (1973), Massacre, New York: Macmillan.
 Brownmiller, Susan, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape.
 Ibrahim, Nilima, Ami Virangana Bolchhi (I, the Heroine, Speak).
 Hitchens, Christopher (2001), The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Verso.
 http://banglablogbd.com/liberation-war-bangladesh/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War#cite_note-13
 http://www.slideshare.net/burjees/east-pakistan-crisis
 https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=GiOCWg4f87MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:
9780415411578&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
 https://prezi.com/ydzqczxbk4md/causes-of-the-1970-bangladesh-liberation-war/
 http://www.ghior.com/2013/07/liberation-of-bangladesh-or-liberation.html
 http://www.ghior.com/2013/08/the-victory-day-of-bangladesh.html
 https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/south-asia

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East Pakistan Crisis Violation of Humani

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Md.

Monirul Islam Rahul

East Pakistan crisis 1971:

Background of liberation war of Bangladesh:

Causes of liberation war of Bangladesh:

Crisis at the time of liberation of war:

The postponement of the Constituent Assembly came as a shattering disillusionment to the

Crimes and of Liberation War of Bangladesh 1971 and violation of the

Violation of Fundamental Rules of the Humanitarian Law in 1971:

Right of Self-Determination in International Law:

The notion of the right of a people to self-determination amounts to a de jure recognition of a

‘ We the Peoples of the United Nations . . .

“The Geneva Conventions of 1949 proved a landmark in international law by formulating

The Geneva Conventions

This Article also provides:

Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention, I.C.R.C., 1958,

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

Geneva Convention against Torture:

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