UN experts call B’desh to annul Mir Quasem’s death sentence

From Yoshita Singh United Nations, Aug 24 (PTI) A group of UN human rightsexperts have asked Bangladesh to annul the death sentenceagainst a senior opposition member, convicted for committingwar-crimes during the 1971 war of liberation with Pakistan,and to re-try him in compliance with international standards. Mir Quasem Ali, 64, a business tycoon and financier ofJamaat-e-Islami party, was sentenced to death in 2014 by theBangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for committingcrimes against humanity. The decision was confirmed by the Appellate Division ofthe Supreme Court in March 2016. The experts’ request comes as the Supreme Court preparedto review Ali’s death penalty today. "International law, accepted as binding by Bangladesh,provides that capital punishment may only be imposed followingtrials that comply with the most stringent requirements offair trial and due process, or could otherwise be consideredan arbitrary execution," said a statement issued yesterday bythe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for HumanRights. "In light of its irreversibility, every measure must betaken to ensure that all the defendants before theInternational Crimes Tribunal, including the AppellateDivision, have received a fair trial," it said. The experts recalled that the Working Group on ArbitraryDetention found in 2012 that Ali’s deprivation of liberty wasarbitrary and in breach of provisions of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights. "We regret the Government’s non-compliance with the expertgroup’s recommendations to remedy the situation of Ali, andcall upon the Bangladeshi authorities to respect theirinternational obligations," they added. The UN human rights experts also expressed alarm atreports that Ali’s son and part of his legal defence team, MirAhmed Bin Quasem, was abducted from his home earlier thismonth by Bangladeshi security forces, two weeks before hisfather review hearing. "We understand that no information has been given on wherehe is being held, by whom or under what suspicion or charge.We urge the authorities to immediately disclose thewhereabouts of Quasem," they said. PTI YAS SUASUA