LARGEST ISLAMIC PARTY FACES RENEWED ALLEGATIONS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000251

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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

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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

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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