The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has warned
politicians in Bangladesh that they risk facing prosecution at the
International Criminal Court based in the Hague for election time
violence.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Pillary pointed out that Bangladesh is a
State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
‘In other situations, we have seen cases of political or election
related violence where the perpetrators of such acts -- including
political leadership -- have faced prosecution,’ she said.
Pillay was referring to six senior Kenyan politicians, including former
ministers, who were initially charged with crimes against humanity at
the international crimes court for offences they are
alleged to have committed after elections that took place in December 2007 that resulted in as many as 1200 deaths.
In Bangladesh, dozens of people have died in recent weeks in violence
primarily blamed on supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and
the Jamaat-e-Islami who are demanding that an election takes place under
a neutral government.
In the statement, given five days before the visit of Oscar
Fernandez-Taranco the UN’s assistant secretary general of political
affairs, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she
was deeply worried by the rising levels of political violence in
Bangladesh resulting from the major parties failing to resolve their
differences over the conduct of elections.
‘In recent weeks, supporters of both parties have been clashing with
each other and with the security forces. Scores of people have been
killed, hundreds injured, and there has been extensive destruction of
property,’ the statement reads.
‘In the past week, we have seen acts as extreme as protestors throwing
Molotov cocktails onto public buses without allowing the occupants to
escape, leaving women and children with horrific burns,’ the High
Commissioner said. ‘Such levels of violence are deeply shocking for the
Bangladeshi people, the vast majority of whom want -- and deserve -- a
peaceful and inclusive election.’
The High Commissioner also expressed concern about the on-going arrest
and detention of key opposition leaders by the law enforcement agencies.
‘This can further inflame the situation and rule out any possibility
for engagement and dialogue between the main political parties,’ she
said.
‘Whatever their differences, political leaders on both sides must halt
their destructive brinkmanship, which is pushing Bangladesh dangerously
close to a major crisis. Instead, they must fulfil their responsibility
and use their influence to bring this violence to an immediate halt and
seek a solution to this crisis through dialogue,’ Pillay said. (source)