In a major development, Bangladesh parliament has passed an amendment empowering the war crimes tribunals to hold trial of any organisation for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. The amendment, a key demand of campaigners for the war crimes trials and the Shahbagh protesters, was made during passage of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, amendment bill on February 17, 2013.1

In another development, reports noted that Bangladesh and Japan signed separate deals under which Tokyo will provide $792.82 million to implement four projects, including the long-cherished metro rail system. Of the amount, $784.82 million is soft loan while the rest $8 million is grant. With an interest rate of 0.01 percent, the loan is payable in 40 years including 10 years of grace period. For the metro rail project, Japan is initially providing $116.32 million. Japan had earlier agreed to provide 85 percent of the total metro rail cost of $2.7 billion, while the rest of the money will be borne by the government. The deal was for a pre-construction phase. A separate deal for the rest of the funding for the project would be signed at a later date. 2

• 1. “Tribunals free to try Jamaat”, The Daily Star, February 18, 2013 at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=269505.
• 2. “Metro rail loan deal signed”, The Daily Star, February 21, 2013 at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=269862.