The acting Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Mr Maqbul Ahmed, in a statement on 5 February, explained why Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is demanding the scrapping of the war crimes tribunals and the release of its leaders. “The reason why Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is demanding the scrapping of the war crimes tribunals and the release of its leaders is because the tribunals have lost all their credibility in the eyes of the international community, and to the right thinking people of Bangladesh,” he said.
“In the past the international community in one voice supported the trial, now in one voice they have rejected the process because it is flawed. The Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Centre for Transitional Justice, the International Bar Association, the UK Bar Human Rights Committee, the US Ambassador at large for war crimes Stephen Rapp, Lord Eric Avebury of the British House of Lords in their public statements and representations have made it absolutely and abundantly clear that the trials fall far below the international standard. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in their Opinions given in November 2011 and December 2012 have found the detention of BNP and Jamaat leaders as being arbitrary and in violation of international law. In fact, the trials fall below the national standard as well because neither the Constitution nor the ordinary laws of Bangladesh apply,” he added.