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War Crimes Trial

None held illegally Says law minister

Staff Correspondent
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday categorically stated that nobody has been detained illegally in connection with the crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
The government has detained some accused on specific allegations, information, and evidence, and there has been no instance of human rights violation in this regard, he told at a discussion at Hotel Sonargaon in the city.
The minister made the remarks in response to a statement from the United Nations. “We have received a written statement from the UN which says the persons in custody have been detained illegally on charges of committing crimes against humanity. I want to categorically say that detaining anybody without any evidence and someone's detention for trial on specific charges are not the same."
The accused under trial have been enjoying all kinds of rights including scope for defending themselves in accordance with the law of the land, insisted Shafique.
The government is taking action against any reported violation of human rights in the country, he mentioned adding, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), several human rights and civil society organisations, and media are very much aware of any such abuse.
On another issue, the minister said there is no
indigenous citizen in Bangladesh.
Tribal people in our country cannot be treated as indigenous as per the definition of International Labour Organization (ILO) convention No 169.
It states that only the people who lived in a county at the time of conquest or colonisation can be treated as indigenous, he pointed out.
Shafique also mentioned that the government will not abolish the provision of death penalty, although the European Commission has been urging to repeal it.
The socio-economic condition of Bangladesh has not become so developed that it can be repealed, he argued.
The number of death penalties in the country has reduced in recent years since the lower courts' verdicts are reviewed by the High Court and Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court. Even the president of the republic can pardon the convicts on logical grounds, maintained the minister.
The government will neither formulate nor amend any law which could hurt the religious sentiment of the people, he noted.
Presiding over the meeting, NHRC Chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman hoped his office would be turned into an institution.
Some 24 secretaries of the government and members of the NHRC attended the programme.
Earlier in the morning, the law minister at the inaugural session of a training programme of district and sessions judges said the government will amend the civil and criminal procedure codes in order to dispose of cases within a specific time frame to ensure the litigants get justice within a reasonable time and their sufferings are eased.
He urged the lower court judges not to adjourn proceedings of cases without any plausible reason.
Thirty-five district and sessions judges attended the session at Judicial Administration Training Institute in the city.