Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday the International Crimes Tribunals, Bangladesh (ICT-BD) set a new benchmark in international criminal justice by ensuring open, fair and impartial investigation and prosecution, reports BSS.
"The ICTs have now set a new benchmark in international criminal justice by ensuring open, fair and impartial investigation and prosecution of crimes against humanity through independent national courts," she said in a message on the eve of the Day of International Criminal Justice.
The Prime Minister said the people of Bangladesh had taken the initiative to ensure justice for millions of victims of the heinous crimes committed during our War of Liberation in 1971.
"The International Crimes Tribunals Act, 1973 laid the groundwork for setting up the national courts almost four decades later to respond to our quest for justice and truth," she said.
The premier said these trials vindicate Bangladesh's contribution to international criminal justice where national courts are expected to complement the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the court of last resort.
"For obvious reasons, we have taken keen interest in further enhancing ICC's capacity and competence, and pledged our services in promoting to universalise the Rome Statute," she said.
Sheikh Hasina said ICC's current focus on preventing sexual and gender-based crimes during armed conflicts is indeed in tune with the emerging global consensus in this regard.
"I am confident that the present all female leadership of ICC would add new dimension to the ICC's work. On our part, we shall continue to work together with the international community to ensure that mass atrocity crimes become a matter of the past," she said.
The Prime Minister reiterated Bangladesh's firm conviction to uphold and promote international peace and justice that create a common bond for all humanity.
"We remain steadfastly committed to standing by those afflicted by genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity anywhere around the globe," she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh's accession to the Rome Statute in March 2010 had been yet another manifestation of its pursuit of a shared sense of peace and justice for our world.
"It was our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who had inspired this sense in our national psyche that continues to guide our constructive engagement with all national and international efforts to bring crimes against humanity to justice and thus pave the way for reconciliation with the past," she said.
