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 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