The minister had a meeting on Tuesday with US Ambassador-at-Large on Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp.
"They said death penalty might be given, but wanted to know whether it was the only punishment,” Huq said, speaking to reporters about the meeting.
"I told them the tribunal has given life in prison wherever it was applicable. It's the tribunal's jurisdiction.
"But the prosecutors always ask for the maximum punishment," the minister said.
The meeting did not discuss the upcoming amendment to the International Crimes Tribunal Act, added Huq.
“I don’t think we need to talk to them about that. He did not ask either.”
Rapp is touring Bangladesh for the fifth time.
“This was my first meeting with him. It appears that his views on the tribunal have changed greatly,” Huq said.
"There is a worldwide debate over death penalties.
"He asked my opinion on it and I said that we do not think anything less than the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for the brutal and wrongful murders of freedom fighters and people in 1971."
