Standard of War Crimes Trial
Dhaka open to suggestions
Dipu Moni tells foreign diplomats
Dhaka will continue to welcome and accept constructive suggestions to ensure global standard in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told foreign diplomats and officials last evening.
She sought their continued support and cooperation and hoped that the international community would fully appreciate Bangladeshi people's aspiration for justice, and respect their sentiment by standing up for justice and human rights.
Dipu Moni made the call while briefing heads of international organisations and foreign diplomats on the maiden war crimes judgment at the foreign ministry.
Tribunal-2 passed a death sentence on Abul Kalam Azad alias Bacchu Razakar on January 21 for committing crimes against humanity, including abduction, torture, murder, rape and genocide, during the 1971 Liberation War.
Dipu Moni said the ongoing trial was underway in open tribunals to ensure full transparency and fairness in compliance with the standard followed in other trials of international crimes around the globe.
The foreign minister said the ICT was a domestic tribunal with a mandate to try internationally defined crimes under the ICT Act with a view to bringing to justice the perpetrators of one of the most heinous genocides and crimes against humanity of the twentieth century committed in Bangladesh's soil.
“This justice process was never part of any intervention by the international community nor was a result of any international compromise, unlike most justice initiatives of its kind that have taken place in the international arena,†she said.
Dipu Moni said, “We would expect that this maiden judgment and the fair process…would allow certain sections of the international media, which have been running an ill-motivated campaign against the tribunals to rest their case. "
The briefing was followed by a video screening on the 1971 atrocities. Envoys and representatives of different diplomatic missions, including that of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, attended the programme.
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