BNP has lodged two complaints with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) alleging killings of its 2276 leaders and activists in ‘crossfires’ and making 153 others disappeared across the country from 2008 to August 5, 2024.Md Salauddin Khan, coordinator of the BNP’s case data information cell of the party, lodged the complaints against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and different law enforcement agencies at the prosecution wing of the tribunal on Thursday.Advocate Nurul Islam, another member of the cell, was present there.According to the complaints, the BNP leaders and activists were killed in crossfires during the tenure of the Awami League government in a bid to annihilate BNP. ICT issues arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, 10 others“We have submitted the lists of killings in crossfires in district and upazila levels,” he said.One fifty three people including former BNP leaders Ilias Ali and Chowdhury Alam were victims of enforced disappearances. ICT seeks list of Khulna magistrates during July-August protestsFormer Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was made the main accused in the case and some members of law enforcement agencies were also named in he complaint.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday remarked that putting all the blame of crossfires on the country's elite force Rapid Action Battalion is unfair. The minister said this when a reporter sought his comment on a statement by12 foreign human rights bodies seeking ban Rab from deployment at UN peacekeeping missions. He was speaking to journalists after addressing the DC Conference at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city. He said, “They talk about human rights but we can challenge that there is no country where police encounters don’t occur.” Read: UN Peacekeeping: 12 global HR bodies seek ban on RAB When someone points arms at police they can’t sit quietly and thus crossfires happen, said the minister. “So I think it’s an injustice being done to Rab by putting all the blame on them,” he said. The minister said, “Those who created Rab are not liking it anymore. They are spreading propaganda against the force but not highlighting their good works.” When asked whether RAB is facing political opposition he said, “It’s up to you to decide.” Asaduzzaman said there was the government wants to turn the country’s security forces into world class. He said “We have already introduced national emergency service number triple nine like many other countries in the world.” Twelve international human rights organisations have written a letter to the United Nations Department of Peace Operations seeking a ban on RAB from the UN deployment for its alleged involvement in torture, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations. The letter was sent to UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) disclosed it on its website on Thursday. Read: Man to die for killing woman after rape in Ctg The Department of Peacekeeping Operations has yet to provide a formal response to the letter which was sent privately over two months ago on November 8, 2021. “If Secretary General Guterres is serious about ending human rights abuses by UN peacekeepers, he will ensure that units with proven records of abuse like the Rapid Action Battalion are excluded from deployment,” said Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “The evidence is clear; now it’s time for the UN to draw a line. The organizations that signed the letter are-Amnesty International, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD),Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Asian Human Rights Commission, Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL)Capital Punishment Justice Project, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, The Advocates for Human Rights and World Organization Against Torture (OMCT).