Geneva: Rights advocates call for recognising 1971 Bangladesh genocide by Pakistan Army

An event was organised, on the sidelines of the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), by Global Human Rights Defence, an international Non-Governmental Organisation based in The Hague, Netherlands.

Discussing the Genocide of Bengalis in Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, in 1971 by the Pakistani Army, the event began with a brief introduction of the issue at hand.

With the intention of raising awareness and ensuring justice for the victims, the panellists provided their expert views on the issue from varied perspectives. With delegations including the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Belgium and the European Union (EU) present, this event reached a global audience with over 80 participants present in the room and many more watching online, the release added.

To begin, GHRD Chairman, Shradhanand Sital provided introductory remarks that reminded the room of the promise made in 1945 of "never again" after the Second World War. Despite this, such horrific crimes continue to happen time and again across the globe, including in Rwanda, the Balkans and Bangladesh, with no justice or reconciliation for the victims. He ultimately called for this issue to be of utmost priority for NGOs and members of the UN.

Next, Harry van Bommel, Dutch Politician and Human Rights Activist provided the findings of the Fact Finding Mission that visited Bangladesh in May 2023. Having discussed directly with victims and researchers of this genocide, he spoke with a 90-year-old woman who witnessed the killing of 43 people in her village by the Pakistani Army. He stated that the vast evidence of such crimes can lead to the conclusion that there was a Genocide in 1971. In the coming days, these findings will be taken to the European Parliament and other such institutions in order to seek international recognition and raise awareness of this crime while also involving the Bangladeshi diaspora in the process.

Consequently, Sanchita Haque, Deputy Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in Geneva provided her remarks on the issue. Discussing the monumental statistics of casualties, abused and displaced people, she states that the pain for Bangladeshi people comes from the lack of recognition by the international community despite the scale of these horrific crimes.

She concluded that it is "obnoxious and unacceptable" that the international community has not yet recognised this to be a Genocide. Thus far, Bangladesh notes 25th March each year as Genocide Day and established the Liberation War Museum in 1996 in order to fight for this recognition and justice.

Next, Anthonie Holslag, lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam provided his academic perspective on the matter as an expert in International Law and Genocide. Discussing the need for proof of intent under international law, he argued that the legal, social and scientific evidence collected ensures that there is no contention regarding whether or not this grave series of crimes can be considered a Genocide, the release said.

To conclude, GHRD Chairman Sital remarked that there is a need to support this initiative and call for justice for the people affected and reminded the members of the UN of their duty to call for recognition and justice for such victims. With over 3 million casualties, over 2,00,000 women being raped and around 30 million more displaced both internally and externally, this side event brought attention to the gravity of this issue and demanded the United Nations and its frameworks to do more.

As a call to action, discussing the particular resolutions and mechanisms used thus far, the event set the stage for a campaign to ensure accountability and closure for the victims of this horrific crime. As a starting point for this, there is an acute and urgent need for the international community and the United Nations to officially recognise this genocide after 52 years of denial, ignorance and oversight, it added. (ANI)