UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon talking to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the UN headquarters in New York during a programme for celebrating the 40 year anniversary of Bangladesh becoming a UN member state. Photo: BSS Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sought the international community's support in the ongoing trial of war criminals in Bangladesh for the sake of justice, human rights and ru
le of law. “The highly transparent, impartial and independent International Crimes Tribunals, Bangladesh, have already completed the trials of a few key criminals who perpetrated heinous crimes against humanity. We look towards the international community's full appreciation of the aspirations of our people for this long-awaited justice,” she told the 69th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters here. To uphold peace and rule of law and end a culture of impunity, the Bangladesh government remains pledge-bound to bring to justice the culprits of war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape, and genocide committed during the Liberation War in 1971, she added. The government, said Hasina, maintains a policy of zero-tolerance to all forms of terrorism, extremism, radicalism and religion-based politics. The anti-liberation forces continue to remain active in destroying the progressive and secular fabric of the nation as they resort to religious militancy and extremism at every opportunity, she mentioned. The PM said her government is also entrenching democracy, secularism and women's empowerment to ideologically defeat terrorism and extremism. “We have also significantly enhanced transparency and accountability in governance by strengthening our election, anti-corruption, human rights and information commissions,” she noted. Advertisement On global security, Hasina said sustainable development can't be reached in absence of durable peace and security. The volatile global security continues to pose significant challenges to international development, she added. She expressed Bangladesh's full solidarity with the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for self-determination. She condemned the systematic killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, by Israel during the recent offensive in Gaza. The PM called for a permanent solution to this longstanding conflict through the creation of an independent and viable state of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders and with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital. On the post-2015 development framework, she said it must fulfil the aspirations of building an equitable, prosperous and sustainable world where no person or nation is left behind. She said the MDGs have been the most successful global anti-poverty push in history. It is due to MDGs that the world witnesses 50 percent less poverty than it did in 1990, more girls in school, lesser number of children dying and more people having access to safe drinking water and sanitation, she noted. Hasina, however, said the progress has been uneven and unequal within and among countries and regions. “Sadly, over 1.3 billion people still live in abject poverty. As we reflect on the new and emerging developmental challenges, eradication of poverty must remain at the centre of the Post-2015 Agenda; and build linkages with all other goals.” The new framework, she said, must secure a balance of the three pillars of sustainable development, particularly being mindful of the need for access, unique circumstances and diverse needs of countries like Bangladesh. She hoped that the future development agenda must meaningfully address the longstanding resource and capacity constraints of the low-income developing countries and respond to the emerging risks and vulnerabilities. Bangladesh, said the PM, would particularly stress a clear resolve on financing of sustainable development by next year, particularly from the Financing for Development process. It is encouraging that some of the developed countries have fulfilled their commitment to contributing 0.7 percent of their GNI and 0.2 percent of GNI as Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the LDCs, she added. In a globalised economy, the least developed and climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh require greater support in respect of the ODA, science-technology innovation and capacity building, said Hasina. She insisted that all products from all LDCs must be granted duty-free and quota-free access to markets of all developed countries. The world today, she noted, is witnessing unprecedented human mobility, within and beyond borders. Bangladesh has emerged as a key stakeholder in global migration. She said no challenge is as complex, widespread and formidable as climate change to countries like Bangladesh. “We've a crucial need for adequate, predictable and additional climate finance; access to locally adaptable technologies; and support to capacity and institution-building,” she added. The PM renewed her call for recognising Bangla, spoken by more than 300 million people, as an official language of the UN as Bangladesh proposed a flagship resolution at the UNESCO, secured in 1999 recognition of “21 February as the International Mother Language Day”. President of the 69th UNGA, Sam Kahamba Kutesa chaired the session.
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