'Ensuring justice, accountability must for safe Rohingya repatriation'

Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative (PR) to the UN ambassador Rabab Fatima has said ensuring justice and accountability for the Rohingya are important preconditions for their safe, dignified and voluntary return to Rakhine State in Myanmar and eventual societal reconciliation.

She was addressing the UN Security Council open debate on “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace: transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict situation" held in New York recently, reports UNB.

Belgium organised the open debate as the president of the Security Council for the month of February, said the Bangladesh Mission at the UN on Saturday.

Highlighting the importance of internationally recognised criminal justice mechanisms in ensuring justice for countries coming out of conflict, Fatima 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 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, she said they 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."

She also emphasised the importance of preventing a sense of inequality, discrimination, exclusion, and other root causes of violence and conflict in a society.