Complaints have been filed with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) against former presidents Abdul Hamid and Mohammed Shahabuddin over crimes against humanity committed during their tenure.
Bangladesh Azad Party and the Rashtra Sanglap Forum, a platform, submitted separate complaints on Sunday.
In its complaint, Bangladesh Azad Party said the two former presidents failed to fulfill their constitutional duties in the face of enforced disappearances, murders and genocide committed while they held the highest constitutional office of the state, and indirectly supported those crimes by remaining silent.
After filing the complaint, leaders of Bangladesh Azad Party told reporters that although the two former presidents received salaries and allowances from taxpayers’ money while in office they failed to properly discharge their constitutional responsibilities.
They alleged that neither the presidents protested against or played any effective role in preventing the enforced disappearances, murders, secret detention centres (Aynaghar) and other incidents that took place in the country at different times up to August 5, 2024.
They said the President, as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, holds important constitutional powers.
However, they alleged that neither of the two former presidents took any initiative to protect the lives and property of the people or prevent such crimes by exercising those powers.
In a separate complaint, Al Noor Mohammad Ayas, central member secretary of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum (State Dialogue Forum), urged the tribunal to investigate Shahabuddin’s alleged role in ordering or facilitating shootings, torture, killings and enforced disappearances during the July Uprising.
Ayas also called for an independent investigation into whether Shahabuddin bore any legal responsibility for or involvement in the 2024 national election, human rights violations during the July mass uprising.