By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer,Asia
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bangladesh war veterans and intellectuals released a list of 1,597 war criminals, alleging the persons on it committed war crimes which include rape, arson, and mass murder. In explaining the release of the list, M.A. Hasan, a member of the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, said “We have prepared the list not to take revenge but to break the silence of impunity.”
The list names about 400 Pakistani army personnel, and about 1,100 Bangladeshi collaborators. The war veterans included Pakistanis like Yahya Khan, president of Pakistan during the war, General Tikka Khan, commander of the Pakistani army at the time, and Lieutenant General Ameer Abdullah Khan Niazi, who signed the surrender agreement. A prominent Bangladeshi listed is the head to the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Matiur Rahman Nizami.
The crimes took place during the 1971’s independence from Pakistan. For decades, war veterans have alleged that their fellow countrymen and members of the opposition are responsible for thousands of deaths. The list was created after 17 years of investigation based specifically on field work, mass grave sites, and eyewitness statements.
War veterans and intellectuals are calling for a prosecutions of those listed or at least a truth commission resembling the one set up for post-apartheid South Africa.
The calls for war trials has re-erupted recently because Bangladesh has been under emergency power since early 2007. The government has promised to reinstate a democracy in late 2008. The emergency government is presently attempting to clean-up the corrupt political system. War veterans believe that the war crimes are even more important now because of the up and coming elections. M.A. Hasan said, “We will give this list to the government and the election commission. Our demand to the government is that those perpetrators should be punished and disqualified from the next election.”
For more information, please see:
AFP – Bangladesh Group List of Alleged War Criminals– 4 April 2008
The Daily Star – List of 1,597 War Criminals Released – 4 April 2008
The Hindu News Update – Yahya Khan Names “War Criminal” by Bangladesh Group – 4 April 2008
Impunity Watch – Bangladesh Contemplates War Trials – 22 March 2008
