ICT aims to conclude 10 war crimes trials before polls

Staff Reporter :

Trials in eight to ten cases of crimes against humanity, committed during the July 2024 uprising, are likely to be completed before the national elections in February 2026, International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Bengal Delta Conference 2025 in Dhaka, Tajul said two to three cases are already at the trial stage, while investigations into several others are almost finished. “Accordingly, eight to ten cases will be completed by February,” he said.

The panel discussion, titled “Authoritarianism, Atrocity, and Accountability: Human Rights Abuses and Transitional Justice in Bangladesh,”was organised by the Dhaka Institute of Research and Analytics (Daira) at a city hotel.

Tajul explained that starting the trials was difficult because much of the evidence was missing. Important records, including those kept by the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC), had been destroyed. “The deleted records are now being recovered and used in the investigation,” he added.

He also said that 23 new investigators have been appointed to the tribunal’s agency. Although they had no prior experience in dealing with crimes against humanity, they are being trained to complete the investigations.

Tajul stressed that the trials must continue even after the interim government period ends. “The next elected government will be expected to carry forward these trials. Otherwise, it will be a betrayal of the blood of the July-August martyrs. To ensure justice, the political forces of the July-August movement must remain united. There is no alternative to unity,” he said.