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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2018 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KGOV KDEM BG
SUBJECT: LARGEST ISLAMIC PARTY FACES RENEWED ALLEGATIONS OF 
WAR CRIMES 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Geeta Pasi; reasons 1.4(b) and (d 
) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Bangladesh,s largest Islamic party, 
Jamaat-e-Islami, has come under scrutiny in recent months for 
alleged war crimes committed by its members during the 1971 
Liberation War.  With the Awami League leading the charge, 
there have been demands for the Election Commission to ban 
Jamaat from  parliamentary elections scheduled to take place 
by the end of the year, and calls for Jamaat leaders to be 
prosecuted.  The courts have ordered police to investigate 
specific murder allegations against, among others, the 
party,s secretary general and president. END SUMMARY. 
 
UNDER SCRUTINY 
============== 
 
¶2. (SBU) Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the largest Islamist political 
party in Bangladesh and the junior partner in the Bangladesh 
Nationalist Party-led government from 2001 to 2006, has come 
under renewed scrutiny for alleged crimes committed by its 
members during the fight for independence from Pakistan in 
¶1971. The issue was raised by the Awami League (AL), the main 
challenger to the BNP, when it met with the Election 
Commission in September 2007 to discuss electoral reform. At 
the time, Awami League Acting President Zillur Rahman 
demanded a ban on Jamaat participation in the elections that 
the EC has pledged to hold by the end of 2008.  Other more 
secular-oriented political parties and several media houses 
quickly seized on the issue, ensuring it has remained in the 
headlines. 
 
¶3. (SBU) As a result of the renewed call for war crimes 
prosecutions, most of the main political parties, with the 
exception of a faction of the BNP, boycotted the President's 
December 16 Victory Day reception and December 22 Eid 
reception because Jamaat "anti-liberation forces" had been 
invited.  An Embassy officer doing cyclone recovery work in 
the southwestern city of Khulna reported the highest level 
attendance in many years at the local Liberation War 
commemoration there.  All major parties, with the exception 
of Jamaat, were in attendance. 
 
CHARGES FILED 
============= 
 
¶4. (SBU) On December 17, a former Liberation War commander 
filed murder charges against JI President Matiur Nizami, 
Secretary General Mujahid, and 11 others, accusing them of 
 
SIPDIS 
murdering a freedom fighter at the end of the war.  A 
magistrate instructed the police to conduct an immediate 
investigation. 
 
JAMAAT REPLIES 
============== 
 
¶5. (SBU) In January, representatives of all major political 
parties, including the Awami League and Jamaat, met together 
with AID Assistant Administrator Mark Ward during his visit 
to Bangladesh.  At the meeting, Acting Awami League Secretary 
General Syed Ashraful Islam reiterated his party,s position 
that Jamaat should be banned because it is a party of "war 
criminals."  Barrister Abdur Razzaque of Jamaat replied that 
it was not fair to hold the entire party responsible for the 
actions of some individuals, arguing that war criminals 
should be prosecuted individually. (NOTE: Razzaque has also 
been accused in newspapers of war crimes in the Sylhet region 
during the war; he denies ever being in Sylhet during that 
timeframe. END NOTE.) Separately, a concerned Jamaat 
Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman met with 
Embassy officials to provide a similar response to the 
campaign against his party, alleging the charges were 
politically motivated. 
 
POSSIBLE COMPROMISE FLOATED 
=========================== 
 
¶6. (SBU) During her visit to Bangladesh in January, Amnesty 
International Secretary General Irene Khan suggested the 
government of Bangladesh seek assistance from the United 
Nations in forming a war crimes tribunal to focus on 
 
DHAKA 00000251  002 OF 002 
 
 
individual cases. The Election Commission appears to be 
taking a similar tact.  In mid-February, the Commission 
stated publicly it was considering banning any individual 
convicted of war crimes from running for office.  The 
Commissioners planned to suggest this as a compromise 
solution when the Commission resumes its reform dialogue with 
the political parties in late February. 
 
COMMENT: A BLOW TO JAMAAT 
========================= 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT: Until now, Jamaat had survived the state of 
emergency imposed in January 2007 with relatively few arests 
of party members on corruption charges, much to the 
consternation of the Awami League and BNP, both of which have 
been hobbled by charges against their followers. By reviving 
these war crimes allegations the Awami League has been able 
to draw Jamaat,s own skeletons out of the closet.  While it 
is doubtful Jamaat, with no more than  eight percent of the 
popular vote in any national election since 1991, could 
replace one of the main parties, the negative spotlight of 
these charges may preclude Jamaat from taking full political 
advantage of the recent misfortunes of its two larger, 
secular rivals.  There are also strong indications the 
government (and military) of Bangladesh may be trying to use 
this issue as a means of easing out the current Jamaat 
leadership and promote others from within the party. 
Pasi