By Sheikh Shahariar Zaman | Published by Dhaka Tribune on May 23, 2018
Dhaka should respond to the International Criminal Court (ICC) request seeking observations on the situation situation of Rohingya people, say experts.
“Bangladesh’s decision here is extremely crucial both in practical term and in terms of historical significance in the practice of international law and in pursuit of justice and accountability,” says Maung Zarni, a Myanmar dissident.
The ICC pre-trial chamber sent a request to Bangladesh on May 7 and asked it to give its written reply publicly or confidentially by Jun 11.
Dhaka, however, is yet to decide.
“We are yet to take decision on responding to the ICC. We are looking into it,” Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told the media on Wednesday.
In his response over email to Bangla Tribune, a democracy advocate and Rohingya campaigner Zarni said, “Bangladesh is a country that emerged from the genocidal ashes of the Liberation War of 1971 whose past wounds have not been properly acknowledged or recognised by the international legal system or public opinion as crimes against humanity, or genocide.”
He was of the view that Bangladesh should ensure that the international crimes which Rohingyas have suffered for too long are accounted for and the perpetrators are brought to the ICC.
“It is in Bangladesh’ long-term national interests to end this cycle of the neighbour’s genocidal persecution of Rohingyas inside Myanmar,” said the former research fellow at the London School of Economics.
Any government or political leader or society in Dhaka would demand accountability for such violent crimes which have long-term ecological, demographic and economic impact on Bangladesh, he added.
“Dhaka should submit the facts which it certainly possesses as the country most impacted negatively by Myanmar’s crimes from across the borders and its views which I hope will reflect the need for respect for international law, respect for honest bilateral relations and respect for the sanctity of human lives, irrespective of race, creed or faith,” said Zarni, who founded the Free Burma Coalition in 1995 and served as its director until 2004.
Myanmar violates all those ideas, principles and existing laws and norms and it needs to be held to account at the world’s permanent court.
“It is a good opportunity for Bangladesh to put pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas,” said Md Shahidul Islam, a former defence attaché at Dhaka mission in Yangon.
He said Dhaka is building international pressure on Myanmar but as of now, it has little impact.
“The ICC is completely a different ball game and any verdict from the ICC will have a concrete and permanent impact to end the tragic episode of Rohingyas,” he told Bangla Tribune.
He was of the view that, “If Bangladesh does not respond to the ICC request, it will send a wrong signal to the international community who are supporting Bangladesh in the Rohingya cause.”
