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Testimony of War Crimes

Mir Quasem set up torture centres

Staff Correspondent
War crimes accused Mir Quasem Ali had led the setting-up of several camps in Chittagong for torturing and killing proliberation people and he must take responsibility for all the crimes committed there as a commander of Al-Badr force, the prosecution argued yesterday.
On the first day of their closing arguments, the prosecution said his force, Quasem, keeping links with the Pakistan army, had directly taken part in committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
Prosecutors Zead Al Malum and Sultan Mahmud Simon tried to establish their claims by citing verbal and documentary evidence. The prosecutors, however, faced several questions from the International Crimes Tribunal-2 and could not give direct answers on several occasions.
The 61-year-old Jamaat-e-Islami central executive council member faces 14 charges, including torture and murders committed in Chittagong between November and December 16, 1971.
Quasem has denied the charges.
Initiating the daylong arguments, Malum said Quasem had got involved with Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat's student wing, in 1967 and become the president of its city and Chittagong College units.
Quasem had become the general secretary of Chhatra Sangha, East Pakistan unit on November 6, 1971, Malum said. He added the accused had formed Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army, in Chittagong comprising Sangha leaders and activists. He was the commander of Chittagong Al-Badr and later had become one of its central commanders, the prosecutor said.
According to the war crimes records, Al-Badr was actually a "killing squad" formed with the leaders and activists of Chhatra Sangha and was especially responsible for the killings of the intellectuals in the last part of the war.
Cadres of Chittagong Al-Badr, in association with the Pakistan army and Razakars and under the leadership of Quasem, had set up torture camps at Dalim Hotel, Dost Mohammad Building and Salma Manjil in the city, Malum said.
Al-Badr men used to abduct intellectuals, proliberation people and freedom fighters from different places and torture and kill them at the camps before dumping their bodies, Malum added.
At one point of his submission, Malum was going to cite references from a book named "Al-Badr", written by a Pakistani national, when the court asked if they had submitted it as evidence. As Malum said they had not submitted the book but the court could take the matter into cognisance as a judicial notice, the tribunal asked, "But why didn't you submit it?"
To prove Quasem's political role in 1971, Malum referred to several newspaper reports, which their witnesses had already exhibited. The prosecutor said among the 24 prosecution witnesses, 13 were victims, while five represented the victims' family members.
Simon also placed arguments on the second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth charges citing testimony of the prosecution witnesses and documentary evidence. The prosecution did not give witnesses for the first and fifth charges, he said.
Referring to testimony of several prosecution witnesses, Simon said Dalim Hotel was the headquarters of Chittagong Al-Badr and was "controlled by Quasem".
All the victims were taken to the camp where they endured brutal torture "either in presence of Quasem or upon his directive", said Simon, adding, "So, Mir Quasem Ali has to take the responsibility of all the activities [crimes] committed at Dalim Hotel."
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan with members Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Shahinur Islam adjourned the proceeding until today when the prosecution would place further arguments.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has meanwhile adjourned recording testimony of the prosecution witnesses until May 6 in the war crimes case against ATM Azharul Islam as the prosecution sought time.
Recording testimony of the 11th prosecution witness was scheduled for yesterday, but prosecutor Tapas Kanti Baul told the three-member tribunal that they could not produce any witness as some of them had fallen sick due to excessive heat of the summer.