Sheikh Hasina sentenced to DEATH: Human Rights Watch issues first statement, says ‘Muhammad Yunus must make sure…’
Human Rights Watch, a rights organisation based in the United States, has strongly criticised the death sentences given to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. The group says the two leaders were tried while they were not present in court and were not allowed to choose their own lawyers, which is a serious violation of fair trial rights.
Earlier this week, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Hasina to death after finding her guilty of “crimes against humanity” linked to the protests that took place in July 2024. The court also sentenced her former home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, to death, while another senior police officer, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who testified for the state, received a five-year prison term.
Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said there is widespread resentment in Bangladesh over Hasina’s time in power. However, she stressed that any trial, no matter who is accused, must follow international standards for fairness. She added that people responsible for serious abuses during Hasina’s rule should face justice, but only after proper investigations and fair, credible trials.
“There is enduring anger and anguish in Bangladesh over Hasina’s repressive rule, but all criminal proceedings need to meet international fair trial standards. Those responsible for horrific abuses under the Hasina administration should be held to account after impartial investigations and credible trials,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at HRW.
Human Rights Watch said the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus must make sure that all people accused in the case get their basic legal rights.
The group said that even though those who committed abuses should face justice, the trials did not follow fair international standards. The accused were not given a full chance to defend themselves, question the witnesses, or choose their own lawyers.
HRW also pointed out that holding trials when the accused are not present goes against the right to a fair trial. This right is protected under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), an important international agreement.
The UN Human Rights Committee, which checks whether countries are following the ICCPR says that all criminal trials should allow the accused to be present or be represented by a lawyer, speak before the court, provide evidence, and question witnesses.
Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch said that people who suffered serious abuses during Sheikh Hasina’s rule do deserve justice, but that justice has to come through fair and independent trials. She added that protecting the rights of the accused is also important including ending the death penalty, which she called cruel, permanent and impossible to reverse.
What was the verdict?
A special court in Dhaka, called the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT), has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death after finding her guilty of crimes against humanity. This tribunal was first created by Hasina in 2010 to investigate crimes from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. However, over the years, human rights groups and her political rivals have accused her of misusing the court to target opponents while she was in power.
In its latest ruling, the tribunal delivered three types of punishment against Hasina based on five main charges. She received the death penalty in two cases and a sentence of life in prison until her natural death in another.
The charges against her included:
- Planning and carrying out mass killings of protesters
- Allowing or ordering deadly attacks from the air and ground
- Targeted murders of individuals
- Burning bodies to destroy evidence
- Directing killings and persecution of demonstrators in specific locations
Under the first major charge, Hasina was convicted of inciting violence, ordering attacks, and failing to stop or punish those responsible. For this, she was sentenced to imprisonment until the end of her life.
In the second major charge, she was found guilty of crimes against humanity for ordering the use of drones, helicopters and heavy weapons. For this, the tribunal imposed the death penalty.
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