Dhaka to seek judicial advice on mutiny trial
August 13th, 2009 - 1:27 pm ICT by IANSDhaka, Aug 13 (IANS) The Bangladesh government wants to know under which law — military or civil — should it try the border guards who staged a bloody mutiny in February that left 74 people dead.
After human rights organisations at home and abroad voiced reservations about the trial, the government has decided to ask President Zillur Rahman Sunday to seek a reference from the Supreme Court.
Scores of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers have been in custody since the Feb 25 rebellion that shook Bangladesh. The situation has become murky following the death of some of the prisoners.
The 74 killed in the BDR mutiny included 57 officers of the Bangladesh Army. The BDR personnel reportedly revolted over low wages and poor working conditions for which they blamed their army officers.
The presidential reference will be made under article 105 of the constitution. It would be for the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to guide the government on how to hold the trials, New Age newspaper reported Thursday.
The US-based Human Rights Watch has said that since the BDR troopers were recruited and operated under civilian law, they cannot be tried under military law or by a military court.
Should the men be tried under the Bangladesh Rifles Order? But several offences including rebellion, insubordination, murder, rape and looting committed during the rebellion are not covered by the order.
At the same time, the Penal Code does not deal with some of the offences such as rebellion.
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- Bangladesh gets new border force post-mutiny - Jan 23, 2011
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- Bangladesh jails 3,036 border guards for 2009 mutiny - Sep 12, 2011
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Tags: appellate division, army officers, bangladesh government, bangladesh rifles, border guards, constitution, human rights watch, insubordination, military court, military law, murder rape, mutiny, new age, penal code, prisoners, rebellion, supreme court, wages, working conditions
