Anis exploring whether 195 Pak army personnel can be tried

Law Minister Anisul Huq says he is exploring whether 195 Pakistan army personnel, released forty years ago under the Shimla Agreement, can be tried for war crimes. He said he is seeking to figure out the legalities of the issue. Huq said he has come to know of an initiative to try the 195 Pakistani soldiers for their crimes during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War. Pakistan had then promised to try these POWs for 'war crimes' -- a promise that was never kept. Journalists approached Law Minister Huq on Sunday to find out what the government's policy on the issue was like. “The International Crimes Tribunal is an independent body. I learnt about this step yesterday. I heard an initiative has been taken to try the 195 men who were identified as war criminals in 1973,” he said. Huq said he would check whether the initiative to try them would violate the Shimla Agreement under which the Pakistanis had been released. “I don’t want to say anything on the issue until and unless I get this clarification,” he said. The Parliament did not clear the agreement. Asked whether it would be an obstacle to the proposed trial, Huq said: “It doesn’t matter anymore whether the Parliament passes it or not since the agreement has already been effective, according to a news agency.