The UN human rights body on Tuesday renewed its call to the government of Bangladesh to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty and ‘abolish’ this ‘inhuman practice’ altogether.“We renew our call on the government of Bangladesh to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty and abolish this inhuman practice altogether,” said spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani.
The spokesperson in a press briefing note issued from Geneva said the UN opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, even for the most serious international crimes.
Since its inception in 2010, the ICT has delivered 17 verdicts, of which 15 have resulted in the imposition of the death penalty against members of Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh National Party (BNP), she said.
All those convicted were accused of committing crimes against humanity, genocide and other international crimes in 1971, it reads.
The execution on Sunday of war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed brings to four the number of people hanged following convictions by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal.
Mojaheed, a leader of Jamat-e-Islami, and SQ Chowdhury, a leader of BNP, were sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh on charges of war crimes and genocide, said the statement.
“We’ve long warned given the doubts that have been raised about the fairness of trials conducted before the Tribunal, the government of Bangladesh should not implement death penalty sentences,” the spokesperson added.
Similar concerns were expressed by UN human rights experts who, on several occasions, called on the government to halt the executions, she said.
Earlier in a regular briefing at the UN headquarters, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Stéphane Dujarric said the UN chief called for those countries that continue to use it to at least initiate a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
“I think it’s clear that the Secretary?General opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and has called for those countries that continue to use it to at least initiate a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,” he said.
The spokesperson also said the Secretary?General and they all seen the executions of two people that took place in Bangladesh.
