The creator of a war crimes tribunal established in Bangladesh by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina is the subject of three “mass murder” investigations because of the turmoil that drove her to leave the nation, the tribunal’s investigator said on Monday.
Before Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India on August 5, over 450 people had died after a month of student-led protests against her 15 years of dictatorial leadership, many of them as a result of police shootings.
Ataur Rahman, deputy head of the tribunal’s investigation cell, stated that “we are gathering preliminary evidence at this point” and that the cases had to do with “mass murder.”
“We’re going to the crime scene after this,” Rahman said to AFP.
According to him, several of Hasina’s former top aides are named in all three of the cases, which were launched by private parties.
The cases concern violence in Savar, Munshiganj, Mirpur, and other surrounding areas of the capital city of Dhaka.
Furthermore, local media reports state that at least 15 complaints have been brought against Hasina by local police departments nationwide.
Charges against certain cases extend back to the current disturbance, and they involve murder and “crimes against humanity.”
Hasina established the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in 2010 to look into crimes committed during Bangladesh’s liberation war against Pakistan.
More than a hundred persons were given death sentences by the ICT under Hasina, including a number of her political rivals.
Rights groups frequently criticized the court for failing to abide by international agreements.
Numerous human rights violations, including the summary execution of thousands of Hasina’s political rivals, were said to have occurred throughout her administration.
The UN said on Friday that there were compelling signs that the security forces in Bangladesh employed needless force to quell the student-led protest.
The UN human rights office stated in a preliminary report that “there are strong indications, warranting further independent investigation, that the security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force in their response to the situation.”
It further stated, “Alleged violations included extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention and arrests, forced disappearances, torture, and ill-treatment.”
Muhammad Yunus, the acting leader of Bangladesh, declared that his government would “provide whatever support” the UN investigators require.
