HRW raises concerns over fair trial standards at Bangladesh’s ICT

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concerns over fair trial standards at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), saying shortcomings in its proceedings could undermine justice for victims and the rule of law.

In a press release issued yesterday (28 July), the rights organisation said Bangladesh authorities were failing to ensure international legal standards in ICT cases, warning that flawed investigations and arbitrary allegations could result in political opponents being unjustly imprisoned.

“Those responsible for the many abuses committed under the Sheikh Hasina government should be appropriately held to account, but many prosecutions are falling short of international fair trial standards,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director of HRW.

She said Bangladesh urgently needs reforms to its criminal justice system and urged the interim government to prevent political vendettas through weak investigations and arbitrary charges.

The statement came a day after ICT prosecutors submitted charges against 41 people, including politicians, security force members and two journalists, accusing them of crimes against humanity and genocide.

HRW said its review of more than a dozen ICT cases identified several due process concerns, including arrests without sufficient evidence, prolonged detention without written explanations, restrictions on defence lawyers, inadequate preparation time for trials and the use of witness statements containing identical passages across multiple cases.

The rights group also criticised the prosecution of journalists Mozammel Babu and Farzana Rupa over their coverage of the 2013 Hefazat-e-Islam rally.

It also highlighted the case of “Dr Muhammad Hasan Mahmud Chowdhury and others”, saying several of the prosecution’s 55 publicly available witness statements contained nearly identical sections.

HRW further referred to allegations of bribery involving a tribunal prosecutor, who later resigned, and said the investigation into the matter remains incomplete.

“Bangladesh authorities need to recognise that they cannot repeat the abuses of the past,” Ganguly said, adding that duplicated witness statements raise questions about the credibility of the justice process and could once again fail victims and their families.