UN withheld July Uprising witnesses’ identities over death penalty provision, prosecution tells ICT

The prosecution told the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) today that the United Nations had declined to disclose the identities of eyewitnesses cited in its fact-finding report on human rights violations during the July 2024 uprising. It said the UN withheld the information because the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 allows the death penalty, which the UN opposes.

Prosecutor Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim made the submission while presenting arguments in the crimes against humanity case against Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the Awami League, whose activities remain banned, and six other leaders of the party and its affiliated organisations.

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“As the law still allows capital punishment, we were unable to obtain the identities of the UN’s eyewitnesses,” Tamim told the tribunal. He added that the prosecution had instead presented its own eyewitnesses before the court.

He said the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had indicated that it would provide information on the eyewitnesses whose testimonies were used in its fact-finding report only if the death penalty was removed from the ICT law.

Tamim also referred to the OHCHR fact-finding report during his arguments, saying it documented that between July 14 and July 17, 2024, armed activists of the banned Chhatra League and the Awami League attacked protesters on the instructions of senior party leaders.

Speaking to The Daily Star after the ICT proceedings, Tamim said, “The UN does not usually disclose witnesses’ identities because of safety concerns. However, we assume it withheld them in this case because Bangladesh’s International Crimes (Tribunals) Act allows the death penalty.”

Besides Quader, the other accused are AFM Bahauddin Nasim, joint general secretary of the Awami League; former state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat; Jubo League Chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash and its General Secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil; Bangladesh Chhatra League President Saddam Hussain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan.