The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) has condemned the execution of Abdul Quader Mollah, the Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh’s Jamat-e-Islami (JEI) party in connection with war crimes committed during the country’s war of independence in 1971. According to the ICNA statement:
NEW YORK, NY (December 12, 2013) – The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) strongly condemns the execution today of Abdul Quader Mollah, the Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh’s Jamat-e-Islami party by Shaikh Hasina’s government.
ICNA President Naeem Baig said ‘this is a political murder and a dark day for justice’. Death sentences of political prisoners being handed down through unjust judicial process may plunge Bangladesh into violence, political tyranny, and social anarchy.
World leaders, including US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had personally appealed to the Bangladesh Prime Minister to halt the execution. United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and several international bodies have condemned the way these courts were established and trials conducted.
The judgment is a result of a trial where the defense teams faced severe obstructions including abduction of their witnesses, disallowing defense evidence or witnesses, and circumventing legal procedures like changing of the law to allow the prosecution to pursue the death penalty after a verdict of life sentence had been reached.
These courts are not recognized by any international human rights or legal body as being fair and adhering to international standards. Allah (swt) reminds us in the Quran (2:154) ‘And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, ‘They are dead.’ Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it]not.’
The night before his execution, Mollah had said, as conveyed by his family, ‘I am absolutely innocent. I am being murdered as I am involved with the Islamic movement.’ He further added ‘My every single (drop of) blood will mobilize the Islamic movement and will bring the doom of the autocrats. I am not worried for myself. I am worried about the fate of this nation and the Islamic movement.’ T
Early in November, ICNA had called on the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh to “adhere to international legal standards”. The tribunal was created by the Bangladeshi government to put to trial those accused of committing war crimes during the country’s war of independence in 1971.
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and considered to be closely tied to the Jamaat-e-Islami organization of Southeast Asia, itself allied with the Global Muslim Brotherhood. ICNA is particularly close to the Muslim American Society and the two organizations have been holding joint conferences in recent years.