DHAKA, Bangladesh – In wake of rising hate speech and discrimination worldwide, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to take concrete steps to protect minorities and other communities at risk of genocide, according to sources.
Guterres made the appeal in his message to mark the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, observed on Friday.
Paulo Casaca, executive director of the Brussels-based South Asia Democratic Forum, said the 1971 Bangladesh genocide was a notable event after the enforcement of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1951.
“Whereas an International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh addressed some crimes, Pakistan, the country whose military establishment is accountable for the genocide organisation, has neither recognised its responsibilities nor acted to punish the culprits,” he said, as Devdiscourse quoted.
He stated that a crime that benefitted from complicity or at least a silence of Western powers – first and foremost by the United States diplomacy – has yet to be fully recognized on the international stage.
“However, beyond Bangladesh, it is in the United States that we witness the strongest process towards international recognition today,” he added.
Casaca contended that the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, in 2022, is the right occasion to start a movement demanding universal criminal accountability for past atrocities, at both the national and international fora.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General said “states have the primary obligation for preventing genocide, but religious and community leaders, civil society, the private sector and the media – including social media platforms, play an essential role.”
“It is a day to reexamine our collective failure to prevent this crime in the past, and to redouble prevention efforts for the present and the future,” he added.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government declared March 25 as National Genocide Day.
