Bangladesh outlaws all activities of Awami League, affiliate organisations until trial ends

The interim government has banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliate organisations until trial in the International Crimes Tribunal is complete.

The charges against the party include but is, not limited to, “abduction, murder, killing, torture, and rape” in its effort to quell the mass uprising in July and August last year.

The Public Security Division of the home ministry issued the notification on Monday, two days after an emergency meeting of the Advisory Council decided to amend the law to pave the way for a trial of the Awami League, which led Bangladesh’s independence struggle in 1971.

On Sunday, a gazette was issued to amend the law to open up a path to try political parties and ban them, if proven guilty.

The Awami League will now face trial over alleged crimes against humanity for its role in suppressing the July Uprising.

The notification reads:

Whereas, since the formation of the government on Jan 6, 2009, until its ouster in the face of the student uprising on Aug 5, 2024, the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliated organisations and fraternal organisations established a reign of terror across the country through various oppressive and terrorist activities, including attacks, disappearances, murders, torture and rape, against members of opposition political parties and people with dissenting views; and

Whereas, from Jul 15 to Aug 5, 2024, there are clear allegations of disappearances, murders, burnings, genocide, illegal detentions, inhuman torture, looting, arson, terrorist acts and crimes against humanity against the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliated organisations and fraternal organisations in suppressing the student movement, and these allegations have been established in domestic and international reports; and

Whereas, numerous cases are pending before the International Crimes Tribunal and the country's criminal courts against the leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliates and fraternal organisations on charges of the aforementioned crimes; and

Whereas, in order to create obstacles in the trial of these cases, create panic in the public mind, and endanger the solidarity, public security and sovereignty of Bangladesh, since 5th of August 2024, the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliates and fraternal organisations have attacked students and the public participating in the mass uprising, organised provocative processions, distributed anti-state leaflets, and made criminal statements through social media by their leaders and other activists who are absconding abroad, and attempted to damage the property of individuals and the republic, and other activities against law and order have been observed; and

Whereas, in all these activities, the sovereignty and security of the state have been threatened, the plaintiffs and witnesses of the cases filed against the party and all its affiliates, affiliated organisations and fraternal organisations have been instilled with fear, and thus attempts are being made to obstruct the trial, and there is a fear of a serious deterioration in the law and order situation in the country as a whole; and

Whereas, the government has sufficient evidence that the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliated organisations and fraternal organisations are involved in various criminal activities with the aim of destabilising and rendering the state ineffective, as well as engaging in various illegal activities and conspiracies similar to terrorist organisations with the aim of spreading fear in the public mind; and

Whereas, the Government reasonably considers that, by virtue of the powers conferred by Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 and the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, it is expedient to prohibit all activities of the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliates and fraternal organisations until the trial of the leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliates and fraternal organisations is completed in the International Crimes Tribunal;

Therefore, all activities including any kind of publication, media, online and social media, including any kind of campaign, procession, meeting, gathering, conference, etc, by the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliates and fraternal organisations are prohibited until the trial of the leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Awami League and all its affiliates, affiliates and fraternal organisations is completed in the International Crimes Tribunal.

The notification said this decision will be effective immediately.

Earlier, the Election Commission (EC) said it would determine the next step in revoking the registration of the Awami League as a political party after receiving a government order pertaining to the ban of the ousted party.

According to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), the registration of a political party is revoked if it is declared banned. So, Monday’s ban notification clears the way for the EC to decide on the registration of the Awami League as well.

THE BAN: AS IT HAPPENED

On Aug 5, a student-led mass movement toppled the Awami League’s 15-year rule as Sheikh Hasina fled the country for India.

Three days later, the interim government took charge with Muhammad Yunus as chief advisor. Dozens of cases followed against Hasina, Awami League ministers, MPs and other leaders and activists at different levels over the casualties during the July-August coup.

The same tribunal that had sentenced top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders to death for war crimes during the 1971 war was now being used by the Yunus government to initiate legal proceedings against the Awami League and its associates.

Arrest warrants were issued for Hasina in relation to charges of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” committed during the attempt to suppress the uprising.

The demands for banning the Awami League had been raised by the leaders of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement from the very beginning.

The movement to remove the Awami League from the political landscape gained momentum on Thursday, following former president Abdul Hamid's departure from the country.

On Thursday night, a group of protesters led by Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser of the National Citizen Party’s (NCP) south unit, staged a sit-in outside Yunus’s official residence, State Guest House Jamuna.

The demonstration drew support from the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir, AB Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Hifazat-e-Islam, and student groups affiliated with the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.

Following Friday prayers, protesters set up a stage at the Minto Road entry point and held a rally, brandishing placards and banners demanding that the Awami League be outlawed.

They had been staying at Shahbagh since that afternoon. On Saturday afternoon, they held a mass rally there and raised three demands, including the banning of the Awami League.

Later that night, Law Advisor Asif Nazrul announced the decision to ban the Awami League at a press conference.

On Sunday, the government issued a gazette notification amending the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, granting the tribunal the authority to take punitive action against political parties, their affiliates, or supporter groups involved in crimes under international law.

Under the revised law, if the tribunal finds credible evidence that an organisation—such as a political party or its associate entity—is involved in international crimes, it will have the authority to suspend or ban the organisation, cancel its registration or licence, and confiscate its assets.

The amendments to the ICT Act, which were brought in 2013 in the face of the Ganajagaran Mancha movement, allowed for the trial of organisations as well as individuals. However, the punishment for organisations was not mentioned.

The Hasina-led government had then said it would revise the law again to try Jamaat-e-Islami for its role in the 1971 genocide. But the Awami League government never did so, though it later banned Jamaat towards the end of its tenure.

The gazette to amend the law on Sunday has now opened up a path for the trial of the Awami League itself as a party.

Jamaat, along with Chhatra Shibir and affiliated organisations, was banned as a political party on charges of violence on Aug 1, 2024.

Simultaneously, the home ministry issued a notification listing Jamaat and all its affiliates as “terrorist organisations” under the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Act.

The Hasina-led government fell four days later, and after taking charge, the interim government lifted the ban on the Jamaat on Aug 28.

Formed on Jun 23, 1949, the Awami League spent 75 years in the political arena, retaining power for a quarter of a century.

The party was plunged into extreme uncertainty before, when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were killed in 1975, and his daughter Hasina was arrested in 2007.

The party overcame these setbacks and returned to power, but the latest series of events unfolded the party’s greatest challenge yet.