DHAKA: Two United Nations human rights experts on Thursday urged the Government of Bangladesh to stay the execution of assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami M Kamaruzzaman who was condemned to death for crimes against humanity.

“The UN Special Rapporteurs on summary executions, Christof Heyns, and on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, expressed serious concern at reports that Kamaruzzaman could be executed as early as Thursday 6 November 2014 at midnight,” release says.

On Monday (November 3), the Supreme Court Appellate Division upheld the death sentence to Jamaat leader Kamaruzzaman.

The release said, “The International Crimes Tribunal is a special domestic court with the jurisdiction to try and punish any person accused of committing atrocities, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, in Bangladesh, including during the country’s 1971 independence war.”

It also said: “Any death sentence executed in contravention of a Government’s international obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution.”

“A person sentenced to death must also have the right to seek pardon or commutation of his sentence,” Heyns and Knaul stressed in the news release.

The UN Special Rapporteurs also reiterated their calls that all the defendants before the International Crimes Tribunal, including the Appellate Division, receive fair trials.

BDST: 1156 HRS, NOV 07, 2014