Major Amendments to the International Crimes Tribunal (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2025 Expand the Scope to Include Organizations

The President of Bangladesh introduced significant amendments to the International Crimes Tribunal (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2025, enhancing the scope of accountability under the law. These changes aim to hold not only individuals but also organizations responsible for international crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

We provide below the key changes to the legislation.

Expanded Definition of the Term “Organization”

A new clause (bbb) has been added to Section 2 of the ordinance, broadening the definition of the term “organization.” It now includes: “Any political party, or any entity subordinate to, affiliated with, or associated with such a party, or any group of individuals which, in the opinion of the Tribunal, promotes, supports, endorses, facilitates, or engages in the activities of such a party or entity.”

This amendment empowers the International Crimes Tribunal (“ICT”) to examine the role of political groups and allied organizations that may have contributed to or supported war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other offenses under the ordinance.

New Section 20B: ICT’s Power to Penalize Organizations

A new Section 20B has also been incorporated into the ordinance, giving the ICT explicit authority to take punitive action against organizations found to be complicit in international crimes. It specifies that if the ICT determines that an organization has committed, ordered, attempted, incited, aided, abetted, conspired in, or facilitated any of the crimes specified under Subsection (2) of Section 3, it may impose a range of sanctions. These include banning the organization, suspending or cancelling its registration or license, halting its activities, and even confiscating its property.

This provision operates notwithstanding anything contained in the ordinance or any other prevailing law, underscoring the seriousness of such involvement and allowing the ICT broad discretion.