EU urges BD govt to stay all executions

Staff Reporter :The European Union [EU] has again called Bangladesh government to stay all pending executions, and establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, as a first step towards its abolition.A statement issued by the EU on capital punishment on Thursday said, “We are closely following judicial proceedings in Bangladesh. The European Union reiterates its strong and absolute opposition to capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances.” “We consider the death penalty to be a cruel and inhumane punishment, which is not a deterrent to criminal behaviour and which represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity. With capital punishment any miscarriage of justice – which can happen in any legal system – is irreversible,” said the statement issued from Brussels.It continued, “The European Union calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to stay all pending executions, and establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, as a first step towards its abolition.”It was second statement of EU in a span of only 24 hours. And it drew attention of concerned circles as the statements were issued just after the Appellate Division upheld the death penalty of Jamaat-e Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, which was earlier, awarded by International Crimes Tribunal.On Wednesday, the EU Dhaka office clarified its stance over the war crimes trials saying it is not against the ICT, which is trying the accused charged with crimes against humanity during 1971. The new EU ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon said, “This is not an ICT-related issue. We have no objection to the ICT. We have objection to death penalty for whatever reasons.” “The bloc of 28 countries is in favour of holding trials for all crimes, including the war crimes, provided ‘the due process is followed”, the EU ambassador said.The envoy about January 5 polls said that the EU position on the controversial polls has not been changed.The ambassador, however, brushed aside the assumption that the EU appears to be siding with the war criminals against the backdrop of issuance of a statement after the verdict awarding death penalty to Jamaat ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami.Mayaudon explained that opposing to death penalty is part of EU’s human rights agenda worldwide including the United States. , “It is not only directed to Bangladesh.”When asked why the EU does not issue statements in case of death penalties awarded to people accused of crimes other than war crimes, the envoy said that statements are issued whenever the EU is informed about any death penalty.”We hope that in the first place Bangladesh will declare a moratorium on executions,” the envoy said.