Members of the British Bangladeshi diaspora have called on international organisations to act against what they fear are widespread constitutional and human rights violations unfolding in Bangladesh, under the interim administration led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
At a media briefing in London on Thursday, UK-based solicitor Sayed Zaynal Abedin said he had undertaken in-depth analysis along with fellow legal experts and concerned British Bangladeshis to highlight that the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD) has been “repurposed as a political weapon” to target Opposition leaders, journalists, and minority communities. He also called upon India to help restore democracy in Bangladesh, given its history of supporting the country’s independence in 1971.
“India and Indian people have always been supportive of a democratic Bangladesh, which upholds human rights and stands against atrocities. We therefore hope and expect the same continued support from India,” Abedin told. The lawyer alleged that the current administration’s actions breach Bangladesh’s Constitution, international law, and fundamental principles of natural justice as he shared details of a formal petition to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee calling for the revocation of Yunus’ 2006 win. “Since August last year, my country has been going through one of the darkest times in its history.
After the unconstitutional removal of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, power was taken over by Dr Muhammad Yunus, supported by radical Islamist groups,” Abedin told reporters. “This was not an election. It was not democracy. It was a takeover by way of more violence, and after that, what we saw, what always follows when the rule of law breaks down, unprecedented atrocities, violence, fear and mass arrests. “At the centre of this tragedy is something
called the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh, or ICT-BD, which was originally created to deliver justice for the victims of the 1971 Liberation War that same tribunal has been turned into a political weapon and is being used to silence the pro-independence secular voices,” he said.
