BangladeshFormer Bangladesh MP sentenced to death over 1971 war crimes

Sakhawat Hossain, a former member of parliament from the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, was earlier today (Wednesday) sentenced to death by a special tribunal for commanding a paramilitary Islamist unit which killed, raped, and tortured unarmed civilians during the 1971 civil war in Bangladesh – then called East Pakistan.

In 1971, the Pakistani military tried to suppress a pro-independence rebellion in East Pakistan. Between 250,000 and 300,000 Bangladeshi civilians were killed in the brutal war.

Jamaat-e-Islami, East Pakistan’s largest Islamist party, openly opposed secession from Pakistan and campaigned for continued Pakistani rule over East Pakistan. A few thousands members of Jamaat-e-Islami formed armed militias – trained and equipped by the Pakistani military – and fought along the Pakistani soldiers against fellow East Pakistanis.

In the later stages of the war, as it became clear that the pro-independence forces – with the active support of the Indian military – were gaining the upper hand, the Jamaat-e-Islami militias began a particularly gruesome campaign. Working from prepared lists, the Islamists rounded up and executed thousands of teachers, journalists, architects, university professors, community leaders, small  business owners, and others who were considered part of East Pakistan’s civil society.

The goal of this deliberate campaign of killing was to weaken the emerging state of Bangladesh, and make it easier for Jamaat-e-Islami to play a decisive role in the new state’s political life.

First World reports that the three-member panel of judges also sentenced seven others — six in absentia — to life in prison.

The 68-year-old Hossainwas in 1971 a central committee member of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. He was convicted on five counts of war crimes and of being a local commander of a group that aided Pakistani soldiers in the southwestern district of Jessore.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the special tribunal in 2010 to prosecute suspected war criminals who collaborated with the Pakistani military.

The tribunal has so far convicted thirty-four people, including some of Jamaat-e-Islami’s most senior leaders , with twenty-one of them sentenced to death, twelve to life in prison, and one to ninety years in jail.

Five have since been executed and three have died in prison.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s former leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, 73, was hanged in May.

Shortly after Bangladesh gained its independence, Hossain left Jamaat-e-Islami and joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Zia, who had two spells as prime minister (1991-1996 and 2001-2006) was granted bail on Wednesday after appearing in court on corruption-related charges having to do with large transportation contracts her government awarded while she was prime minister.

In all, Zia is now facing thirty different charges, her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder said.

Critics, including leading international legal experts, have charged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is subverting the Bangladeshi legal system by using it to settle scores against political adversaries.

Previous executions of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for 1971-related atrocities have been met with waves of violence by the party’s supporters, and there are fears that the reaction to the execution of Hossain, when it takes place, will not be different.

Zia’s Nationalist Party, in the meantime, has launched a public campaign accusing Prime Minister Hasina of fabricating the charges against their party leader — a bitter rival of Hasina – in order to weaken the party ahead of next year’s elections.