The European Union has renewed its call on the Bangladesh authorities to commute all death sentences and to introduce a moratorium on executions.
Following war crimes convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman's review rejection order by the Supreme Court, the politico-economic union of 28 member European states issued a statement on Thursday.
On May 9, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 handed down death penalty to Kamaruzzaman, the key organiser of notorious Al-Badr force in greater Mymensingh, for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
The Jamaat leader appealed to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the verdict. But the SC upheld the ICT decision on March 7.
Later, the he sought review of the judgment that was rejected by the four-member SC bench headed by the chief justice on Monday.
In the statement the EU said: “After the confirmation by the Bangladeshi Supreme Court of the death sentence in the case of Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, the European Union reiterates its opposition to the use of capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances.”
Mentioning that capital punishment is not a deterrent against crime and makes miscarriages of justice irreversible, the statement read: “The EU has consistently called for its universal abolition.”
The European Union calls on Bangladeshi authorities to commute all death sentences and to introduce a moratorium on executions as a first step towards definitive abolition of capital punishment.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Unites Nations’ human rights body has called the government of Bangladesh to halt execution war crimes convict and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman.