UN wants 'moratorium' on death penalty in Bangladesh

The UN has appealed to the Bangladesh government for an 'immediate moratorium' on the death penalty.

The call comes immediately after the executions of war crimes convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid on Sunday.

“We have long warned that, given the doubts raised over the fairness of trials conducted before the Tribunal, the Government of Bangladesh should not implement death sentences,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement now available on its website.

Its spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in the statement they were now renewing the call for total abolition of the death penalty as it was an “inhumane practice.”

She said similar concerns were expressed by UN human rights experts who, on several occasions, called on the government to stop the executions.

“The trials did not meet international standards of fair trial and due process as stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a party," said the statement.

“The UN opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, even for the most serious international crimes,” it said.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury were executed in the early hours of Nov 22.

Both were found guilty of supporting the Pakistan army in 1971 and for their role in the massacre of Hindus, freedom fighters and those who supported Bangladesh's independence.

Bangladesh won its independence after nine months of a bloody war.

So far, three Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and a BNP leader have been hanged after they were found guilty by the International Crimes Tribunal for committing 'crimes against humanity'.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said the executions have attracted their attention. “I think it’s clear that the Secretary General opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and has called on those countries that continue to use it to at least initiate a moratorium on the use of the death penalty”.