[Reader-list] BANGLADESH: 1973 War Crimes Act: getting it right

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

There is now a split within Bangladesh's secular progressive/left--
between those who believe making significant amendments to the 1973
War Crimes Act will only "help the war criminals", and those of us who
have taken the position that without international court compliances,
war crimes trials for the 1971 genocide, delayed for 38 years, will
once again fail.

This afternoon, the Bangladesh Parliament passed the 2009 amendment of
1973 Act, with no major amendments. Human Rights Watch has already
expressed concern
(http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/07/08/bangladesh-upgrade-war-crimes-law).

Jyoti Rahman and I co-wrote the lead op-ed in today's paper asking for
comprehensive legal review: "In a rush to pass the amendments,
insufficient attention has been given to major developments in last
three decades in international law, especially as per International
Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR), and International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia
(ICTY)."

http://unheardvoice.net/blog/2009/07/01/1973-war-crimes-act/