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Since achieving independence, Bangladesh has emerged as one of South Asia’s fastest developing countries. Yet, concealed behind its burgeoning international reputation lies a democracy in decline. Recovering from the mire of a genocidal civil war, Bangladesh enacted the International Crimes Tribunal Act of 1973, which established a domestic ad hoc tribunal endowed with the international jurisdiction to prosecute 1971’s war criminals. A year after the legislation’s passing, the government paused the proceedings as the newborn country refocused its attention on mending its international relations.
In 2009—36 years after the ICT’s establishment—Bangladesh’s Awami League regime reactivated the Tribunal. Supporters praised the government’s noble motives to prosecute the remaining war criminals, while critics questioned the administration’s dubious intentions.
Following the Economist’s exposé on the Tribunal’s corruption, revelations from the past decade have come to substantiate the critics’ suspicions. International agencies have also observed that the ICT’s vague legislation, inconsistent judgments, and disproportionate indictments of opposition leaders continue to contravene the accused’s rights to due process and fair trials.
Regrettably, the deteriorating state of democracy in Bangladesh has left a formidable path forward for defendants who seek redress from the Tribunal’s injustices. Nevertheless, the strength and resilience that arose from Bangladesh’s victory in 1971 were not inherited by its government, but by its people. As this Comment revisits the ICT’s injustices, it also proposes a wide range of solutions that the Tribunal’s defendants may pursue—these remedies include establishing a people’s tribunal, encouraging Bangladesh’s allies to issue sanctions against the State, and bringing forward a case to the ICC through Article 20 of the Rome Statute.
This Comment also aspires to empower not only the individuals incarcerated by the ICT but citizens of all autocratic countries who fear the consequences that may follow from efforts to effectuate meaningful change. With growing calls to action demanding remedies for a State’s systemic injustices, the need to reassert global attention upon the ICT’s misconduct is uniquely imperative at this moment. The time is ripe for human rights advocates to demand justice in Bangladesh— now, it is up to the courage of its people to seize it.
