Int’l rights groups criticise SC decision on Quader International rights organisations have criticised the decision of the Appellate Division to sentence Quader Molla to death arguing that the prosecution should not have been able to appeal against the sentence and the lack of a right to appeal against the death sentence. The Human Rights Watch said that an amendment to the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 passed after the conviction of Quader Molla in February 2013 and the protests at Shahbagh ‘are a clear violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a state party.’ A statement from the organisation pointed to Article 14 of the ICCPR which states that ‘no one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.’ ‘The prohibition on retroactive penalties is one of the fundamental protections of the rights of the accused in both international law, and for that matter in Bangladeshi law as well. Without this protection, governments would simply keep amending laws whenever faced with a verdict they didn’t like,’ it continued. The statement pointed out that the organisation ‘has long called for justice for the 1971 atrocities… but that justice depends on fair trials and due process of law.’ Earlier this month, International Crimes Tribunal 1 issued a notice to the Human Rights Watch asking why contempt proceedings should not be issued against it following a report that criticised the trial of Ghulam Azam. The International Commission for Jurists also criticised the decision because of the ‘retroactive legislation.’ ‘The prosecution’s appeal to impose the death sentence on Abdul Quader Mollah was based on a law that was not in force when he was first convicted, and applying that law retroactively, especially for the death penalty, violates international law,’ Sam Zarifi, the ICJ’s Asia-Pacific director, said. The Amnesty International also stated that it was ‘very concerned’ about the ‘apparent relentless effort by the government to ensure that Mollah could be put to death.’ Abbas Faiz, the Amnesty International’s Bangladesh researcher, also criticised the lack of an appeal against the death penalty. ‘The imposition of the death sentence without the possibility of appeal is incompatible with Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law,’ he said. ‘Imposing a death sentence without the right of judicial appeal defies human rights law.… This is the first known case of a prisoner sentenced to death directly by the highest court in Bangladesh. It is also the first known death sentence in Bangladesh with no right of appeal.’
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:05:55 +0000
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