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War tribunal set to get own manpower

Seeks to recruit staff first; recruitment of officials will take more time

Mahbubur Rahman Khan and Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary
After four and a half years of its formation, the International Crimes Tribunal is going to get its own manpower for the smooth functioning of the special courts dealing with the sensational trial of the war crimes accused.
In an advertisement published in different daily newspapers on September 11, the tribunal authority sought to recruit third and fourth class employees for 54 posts, bringing an end to a long-drawn-out process, the need for which was felt ever since
the tribunal's inception in March 2010.
In the advertisement, applications for the following posts were requested: stenographer cum computer operator, personal assistant, librarian, accountant, court keeper, office assistant cum computer operator, cashier, driver, dispatch rider, MLSS, servant, night guard, cleaner and data entry operator.
"Rest of the procedures for the recruitment will be completed soon," Arunav Chakraborty, deputy registrar of the tribunal, told The Daily Star.
However, recruitment for the posts of
first and second class employees such as bench officers, assistant bench officers and senior law research officers will take more time as it has to go through different procedures, he added.
There are 26 posts for the first and second class employees, excluding the posts of registrar and two deputy registrars who have been deputed from the lower courts. The deputy registrar, however, could not mention any tentative timeframe for the completion of filling in these posts.
The government established the International Crimes Tribunal on March 25, 2010 for holding trials of those who had committed crimes during the 1971 Liberation War. A second tribunal was formed on March 22,2012 to expedite the trial process.
But the tribunals have been functioning with personnel hired from the High Court, Dhaka District and Session Judge Courts, Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court and Administrative Tribunal. Besides, 22 cleaners hired on 'no work no pay' basis also work at the two tribunals and the registrar's office.
The necessity for the tribunal's own staff came to the fore after two of its hired employees allegedly got involved in the leakage of the draft verdict of the case against BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury in October last year, exposing serious security flaws of the tribunals.
Besides, different organisations, especially Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, which has been campaigning for war crimes trial for the last two decades, has long been demanding enactment of a law allow-
ing the International Crimes Tribunal to operate with full administrative and financial autonomy.
Though the government approved an 83-post organogram for the tribunals in December 2012, its implementation stumbled due to bureaucratic red tape and absence of recruitment rules.
Finally the government on May 23 this year published a gazette notification on the International Crimes Tribunal (supporting officers and staff) Recruitment Rules 2014. It, however, had to wait around four more months to complete other procedures, including the formation of a selection committee and a recruitment committee.
The recruitment is happening when two tribunals have already delivered verdicts in nine cases, including those of five top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami. Five more cases are waiting for verdicts while trial proceedings of three cases are being carried out currently. A few more cases are now at the pre-trial stage.
About the long delay in the recruitment, the Deputy Registrar said the whole recruitment process went through different stages which consumed a lot of time.
"Recruitment of the other 26 posts will be fulfilled through a process to be conducted by the Public Service Commission", he added.
War crimes researcher and campaigner Shahriar Kabir said it's better late than never.
"But the authority should consider if the new recruits have honesty, skill and devotion to the liberation war", he said.