The Dhaka Times Desk International human rights organization Amnesty International has expressed deep concern over the continued death penalty in Bangladesh. The international organization has called for an immediate moratorium on executions as the first step to abolish the death penalty.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International has termed the continued death penalty in Bangladesh as a matter of deep concern. The organization also called for an immediate moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty.
In the context of the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence of Jamaat leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman last Monday, Amnesty International made this call in a report published on its own website.
Amnesty's Bangladesh researcher Abbas Faiz said, 'The continued imposition of the death penalty in Bangladesh is a matter of deep concern. After a gap of 9 months after the announcement of the last death sentence, 3 death sentences were announced in less than a week.
Amnesty also said that Bangladesh must immediately impose a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty. Along with this, it should be ensured that there will be no political interference on the judiciary.
Abbas Faiz also said, "Instead of bringing justice to the millions of victims of the war of independence, executions will only create a perpetual cycle of violence."
According to Amnesty, all 12 orders issued by the International Criminal Tribunal ICT since its establishment in 2009 have been against members of the opposition (mainly those associated with Jamaat-e-Islami). 9 of these were death sentences.
Amnesty also said, "According to the constitution, the accused can file a review against the judgment of the Supreme Court." But since the statement of the Attorney General is against the review, the right to apply for the review is apparently not there.'
Amnesty International also noted that, 'to date, 140 countries around the world have abolished the death penalty either legally or as a practice. Bangladesh is one of the only 9 countries that have carried out executions every year from 2009 to 2013. Amnesty is against the death penalty in all cases.'
It should be noted that Amnesty International expressed concern after the verdict of crimes against humanity.
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