Halt Kamaruzzaman\\\'s hanging: UN

Two United Nations human rights experts on Friday urged the government not to execute the condemned Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman who was awarded capital punishment for 1971 war crimes on Monday. UN special rapporteurs on summary executions, Christof Heyns, and on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, expressed serious concern on reports that Kamaruzzaman could be executed as early as November 6 midnight. In a press release issued on Nov 7, Heyns and Knaul said that death penalty may be imposed only following a trial that complied with the most stringent guarantees of fair trial and due process. On Nov 2, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for M Kamaruzzaman. The government said that Kamaruzzaman could be executed on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court unless anything otherwise is stated in its full verdict. The central jail in capital Dhaka has already been asked to prepare the gallows for hanging of Kamaruzzaman, according to a news agency.