Bangladesh not to give visas to 1971 war-crimes suspects

DHAKA - Bangladesh has decided to send a list of suspected war criminals from the country’s 1971 secession conflict with Pakistan to all Dhaka-based diplomatic missions asking them not to issue them visas, a senior minister said Sunday.

“The ministry of foreign affairs is vigilant against the possible fleeing of the war criminals, but it is not always possible to know who applied for visa unless the missions sought opinions from the government,” Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told a press conference.

The government has initiated procedures to prosecute what it says are the local collaborators of Pakistani forces during the nine-month armed struggle.

During its war of independence against Pakistani occupation forces in 1971, according to some accounts, three million unarmed people were killed, 200,000 women were violated and tens of thousands of homes were torched by the Pakistani forces and their local collaborators.

Bangladesh Sector Commander Forum, a platform of 1971 war veterans, revealed last year that 11,000 indicted war criminals were released from jail a few months after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.