September 02, 2013 - A special tribunal dealing with war crimes involving Bangladesh's
war of independence against Pakistan on Monday asked an international rights group
to explain why it shouldn't be charged with contempt of court for comments the group
made about a recent ruling. The tribunal ruled that Human Rights Watch must reply
within three weeks or it could be charged. A person found responsible for contempt
could face one year in jail and be ordered to pay 5,000 takas ($63). Last month,
the New York-based rights group issued a statement saying the trial of former Islamic
party leader Ghulam Azam was ``deeply flawed'' and did not meet international standards.
The statement also alleged the ``judges had improperly conducted an investigation
on behalf of the prosecution'' and mentioned ``collusion and bias among prosecutors
and judges.'' Azam was sentenced to 90 years in jail for war crimes. Both the defence
and prosecution have appealed the verdict. The maximum punishment Azam could have
faced was the death penalty. The tribunal found him guilty of genocide and crimes
against humanity, but said it considered his age and decided to award a jail term.
Azam is 91. Azam is known to be the key person to openly oppose the independence
struggle and toured the Middle East to raise support for Pakistan. His party has been
accused of organizing citizens' brigades to fight against the soldiers and guerrillas
who sought independence. Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators,
killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women in the 1971 war. Bangladesh was the
eastern wing of Pakistan and was geographically divided by India. The group's
statement prompted prosecutors to file a contempt petition last month against the
group. The prosecution's filing said the group raised ``biased, baseless, utterly
false, fabricated and ill-motivated'' allegations involving the trial process. The
U.S. ambassador in Bangladesh, Dan Mozena, expressed his concern last month over the
prosecutors' move. He said an organization like Human Rights Watch has ``a critical
role to play.'' Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government is holding the war crimes
trials despite protests from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and
its main ally Jamaat-e-Islami party.