All criminal proceedings need to meet international fair trial standards, said Human Rights Watch on Tuesday after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and ex-home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan were sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity.

Both were prosecuted in absentia, not represented by counsel of their choosing, and sentenced to death, raising serious human rights concerns, it said.

“There is enduring anger and anguish in Bangladesh over Hasina’s repressive rule, but all criminal proceedings need to meet international fair trial standards,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Those responsible for horrific abuses under the Hasina administration should be held to account after impartial investigations and credible trials.”

Victims of grave rights violations committed under the Hasina government need justice and reparations through proceedings that are genuinely independent and fair, she said.

“Ensuring justice also means protecting the rights of the accused, including by abolishing the death penalty, which is inherently cruel and irreversible,” Meenakshi added.

While Indian authorities should support accountability efforts in Bangladesh, any extradition request should allow for the individuals sought to contest the extradition in legal proceedings in India that meet due process standards, said HRW.

No one should be extradited if they would face a trial abroad that does not meet international fair trial standards and could result in the death penalty, it added.

Following the guilty verdicts, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry called on the Indian government to turn over former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, citing an extradition agreement between the two countries.

The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh on November 17, found Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister, and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the former home minister, guilty of crimes against humanity during the violent suppression of student-led protests in 2024.

Both were prosecuted in absentia, not represented by counsel of their choosing, and sentenced to death, raising serious human rights concerns, said the rights body.

The Bangladeshi authorities committed serious human rights violations during the three weeks of protests in July and August 2024 that toppled the Hasina government.

The protests and crackdown resulted in about 1,400 deaths, mostly protesters shot dead by security forces, according to a United Nations report.

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While those responsible for abuses should be appropriately held to account, the prosecution failed to meet international fair trial standards, including for a full opportunity to present a defense and question the witnesses against them, and the right to be represented by counsel of one’s choosing, it added.

Concerns over the fairness of the trial are exacerbated by the death sentences.

The evidence against Hasina included audio recordings of conversations with officials in which she appeared to order the use of lethal weapons, it said.

While a government-appointed defense lawyer for Hasina and Khan, who received no instructions from the defendants, could cross-examine witness, he did not produce any witnesses to counter the allegations.

Trials in absentia fundamentally undermine the right to a fair trial as set out in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is crucial to a legitimate legal process.

The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the ICCPR, has stated that to guarantee defendants’ rights, “all criminal proceedings must provide the accused with the right to an oral hearing, at which he or she may appear in person or be represented by counsel and may bring evidence and examine witnesses.”

The need for justice and accountability for serious rights violations by the Hasina government, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture, is critical, Human Rights Watch said.

However, Bangladesh authorities have a long history, including under the Hasina government, of bringing politically motivated cases, including before the International Crimes Tribunal, to arbitrarily arrest and detain, unfairly prosecute, and in some cases carry out death sentences against political opponents.

Tribunal proceedings during Hasina’s rule repeatedly failed to meet international fair trial standards and imposed the death penalty.

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty.

While the Yunus government has not abolished the death penalty, it amended the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act in November 2024 to bring provisions on command responsibility and crimes against humanity closer to the ICC’s Rome Statute.

The amendments specifically list enforced disappearances as a crime.

However, further amendments in 2025 gave the tribunal broad authority to prosecute and dismantle political organizations, which could be used to violate international standards of due process and freedom of association, it said.

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The Yunus government should adopt measures to ensure that the fundamental rights of the accused are protected, Human Rights Watch said.

The Bangladeshi government should ensure equal access to constitutional remedies for all defendants, and to impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a plan to abolish it altogether.

The government should respond to any demonstrations in accordance with the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Human Rights Watch said.

Awami League leaders should discourage violence by party supporters opposing the tribunal verdict.