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Published : 28 Oct 2025, 10:05 PM
A British lawyer has submitted an application to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, accusing the interim government of Bangladesh of crimes against humanity, including the “killings, unlawful imprisonment, and persecution of Awami League leaders and activists”.
Steven Powles KC of London’s Doughty Street Chambers filed the complaint on behalf of the Awami League, according to a media statement issued by the law firm.
The submission urges the ICC prosecutor to open an investigation under Article 15 of the Rome Statute into what it describes as “retaliatory violence” against individuals linked to Sheikh Hasina’s former administration and party following the July Uprising that toppled her government.
Bangladesh ratified the Rome Statute on Mar 23, 2010, with it coming into force on Jun 1 that year, granting the ICC jurisdiction over crimes committed in the country.
The ICC complaint comes at a time when Hasina faces charges of crimes against humanity at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, where prosecutors have sought the death penalty for her on five counts -- including incitement, command responsibility, and joint criminal enterprise in connection with the reported deaths of 1,400 people during the July–August 2024 crackdown on protests.
Hasina, who served as Bangladesh’s prime minister for over 15 years, fled to India on Aug 5, 2024, following the July Uprising and remains there.
In the ICC application, Powles alleges that around 400 Awami League members and supporters have been killed since July 2024, many of them “beaten to death by mobs”.
Witness testimonies, supported by video evidence, detail “brutal killings”, while a further 25 figures reportedly died in custody, some exhibiting “tell-tale signs of torture” despite official claims of heart attacks, according to the application.
“There is a reasonable basis to believe that the alleged crimes set out amount to the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment and persecution, warranting the initiation of an investigation by the prosecutor,” it reads.
It adds that these offences have “no realistic prospect of being genuinely investigated or prosecuted in Bangladesh” and that impunity would otherwise result.
It also accuses the interim authorities of “arbitrarily arresting” people associated with the Awami League -- directly or indirectly -- and “sending them to jail without charge or bail”.
The statement also highlights “mass” arrests of politicians, judges, lawyers, journalists, and even individuals tenuously associated with the Awami League, including actors and singers.
The filing cites Operation “Devil Hunt” in February 2025 by the interim government, an unelected caretaker administration, during which 18,000 people were reportedly arrested over 12 days as part of a joint police and army initiative aimed at combating what the administration described as “Awami fascism”.
The communication criticises the Oct 14, 2024 Immunity Order, which granted protection to those who took part in the July Uprising.
The statement notes that a home ministry spokesperson had said at the time: “Students and citizens who put forth all efforts to make this uprising successful will not face prosecution, arrest, or harassment for their acts between Jul 15 and Aug 8 [2024].”
According to Powles, such one-sided immunities “not only lead to impunity but indicate implicit state support for the perpetrators of those attacks”.
The filing underscores that investigation of these crimes is likely to identify individual criminal responsibility of named suspects and that retaliatory offences during political transitions are “an acute contemporary concern” squarely within ICC jurisdiction.
