The execution of war criminal Abdul Quader Molla and subsequent reaction of the European Union diplomats in Bangladesh have apparently drawn attention of a member of the European Parliament (EP).
Jacek Włosowicz, a member of the committee on budgets at the EP, has come up with an opinion on international support for Bangladesh war crimes trial written specially for the members of the EP.
Włosowicz clarified the rationale of the trial of the war criminals: “Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan 42 years ago after a war which saw killings on a mass scale, the exodus of more than 10 million refugees and military intervention by neighbouring India.”
The government set up the special court to deal with those accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces who attempted to stop East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was then, from becoming an independent country.”
The article, titled “International Support for Bangladesh War Crimes tribunal”, has been published in the February edition of the monthly EP Today, a monthly news magazine for the European Parliament that carries policy opinions by the Members of the European Parliament (MEP).
Polish parliamentarian Włosowicz’s effort in edifying members of the European Parliament comes in the backdrop of criticism against the tribunal in Bangladesh and abroad.
Following the execution, western diplomats, including the European Union, refrained from paying homage to the Bangladesh independence martyrs on December 16.
Throughout the article Włosowicz elaborated the history of the Bangladesh war crimes tribunal since its inception on March 25, 2010.
“The ICT indicted eleven persons on charges ranging from abduction to arson, rape, mass murder, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,” Włosowicz informed his colleagues at the EP.
“It has convicted eight so far and sentenced five of them to death,” he added.
The trial in Bangladesh has received considerable international support including the UN, US and European Union, noted Jacek Włosowicz. The war crimes tribunals have faced criticisms over its functioning in recent times, Włosowicz does not forget to remind his fellows.
According to the MEP the common allegations against the Bangladesh ICT are: “The lack of international standard in Bangladeshi journalism, the media bias against alleged war criminals and the lack of freedom of speech…”
The atrocities and victims in Bangladesh have largely been overlooked by the world in view of such critiques, Włosowicz said adding that the attempt of Bangladeshi government to create a domestic tribunal for such grave crimes could set a valuable international precedent.
The 2013 publication of EP Today had 12,000 copies to the whole of European Parliament, all European Commissioners, Diplomatic communities in Brussels, Ottawa, New York, Washington DC, New Delhi, and Geneva.
