Bangladesh - Fugitive war crimes accused

In this month of our nation's victory over the Pakistan occupation army, we reinforce our call to bring all the perpetrators of the heinous war crimes of 1971 to book. We note with concern that a lot of the accused have been absconding while some have fled the country. The law enforcing agencies are also, reportedly, showing a lack of interest in arresting the alleged war criminals. It is indeed unfortunate that the investigation and prosecution process does not have any comprehensive strategy to get the job done either. 

This will certainly hamper the crimes against humanity trial, and run the risk of the work of the investigators going in vain.

There is no denying that the setting up of our International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in 2010 has been crucial in handing down justice to the Bangladeshi collaborators who fought alongside the Pakistan army during the country's independence war in 1971. It certainly aims at upholding the rule of law by giving this nation a chance to a get closure with its turbulent past.

Even though some of the war crimes accused have been punished, a lot of them have not yet faced trial. It is imperative that the ICT is given unfretted allowance for the smooth functioning of its activities as permitted by the law of the land. In this regard, we call upon the government to remove any barrier that hinders the due diligence of the investigation and prosecution process. It is also necessary to arm the delegated institutions with the logistics to conduct the war crimes trial as per the book with renewed vigour.

http://www.thedailystar.net/editorial/fugitive-war-crimes-accused-187204