The European Union has stressed the importance of following “international standards” for judicial proceedings in Bangladesh concerning the crimes committed during the Liberation War and the mass trial in the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny case.
In reply to questions in the EU parliament related to the death penalty in Bangladesh, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said the position of Brussels on death penalty was very well known in Dhaka.
“In our contacts with the government of Bangladesh, we have also stressed the importance of following international standards for due process, in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other instruments ratified by Bangladesh,” she said.
“From the start of the trials, we have repeatedly stressed in public statements and in our high level contacts with the government, that while the EU does not favour impunity for crimes, we are opposed to the death penalty in any circumstances, even in the case of the worst crimes,” she said.
