The Permanent Representative (PR) of Bangladesh to the UN, Ambassador Ms. Rabab Fatima said, “Ensuring justice and accountability for the Rohingya population is an important precondition for their safe, dignified and voluntary return to Rakhine State and eventual societal reconciliation”. She was addressing the Security Council Open debate today on “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace: transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict situation.”
Highlighting on the importance of internationally recognized criminal justice mechanisms in ensuring justice for countries coming out of conflict, she welcomed the groundbreaking decision of the International Criminal Court about ensuring accountability of the egregious human rights violations and atrocity crimes by Myanmar against its Rohingya population. She also exemplified the ICJ’s order of 23 January 2020 as a momentous development in this regard.
In reiterating Bangladesh’s commitment to the Security Council’s Women Peace and Security (WPS), and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) agenda, the PR said, “ we remain committed to supporting multi-pronged efforts of the UN to prevent and ensure accountability for violence against women and children during armed conflicts”. She also underscored Bangladesh’s contribution to the UN’s peacekeeping operations as major troop and police contributing country in many conflicts affected parts of the world. In post- conflict context, she stressed, “It is critically important to address impunity, ensure accountability and break the cycles of conflicts and atrocities of the past”. In this regard, she emphasized the importance of preventing a sense of inequality, discrimination, exclusion, and other root causes of violence and conflict in a society.
The Open Debate was organized by Belgium as the President of the Security Council for the month of February, 2020.