Dhaka Bureau: Chief Counsel of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, is visiting Bangladesh for the second time today. During the five-day visit, he will visit the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, besides meeting the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. According to sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the chief counsel of the ICC will come to Bangladesh this time to investigate whether crimes against humanity have been committed against the Rohingyas and urge them to ensure accountability.
According to the Rome Charter, the ICC is investigating whether the expulsion of the Rohingya from Rakhine has committed crimes against humanity. Bangladesh is one of the signatories to the Rome Charter. However, Myanmar has not signed the Rome Statute. The country questioned the jurisdiction of the ICC to investigate.
The International Court of Justice has signed an agreement to work in Bangladesh to collect evidence in the investigation of crimes against humanity committed through the expulsion of the Rohingya. According to the Rome Statute, the ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, investigates crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. After the investigation, the ICC brought the accused to court for trial.
According to sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the first day of the visit, ICC Chief Counsel Karim Khan, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Md. Courtesy met with Shahriar Alam. He will be in Cox’s Bazar tomorrow, Wednesday, and the next day, Thursday. Besides talking to the Rohingya refugees, he will also hold a meeting with Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman. Earlier, Karim Khan came to Bangladesh on a five-day visit in February 2022.
During that visit, he told the media that he would have to come back to Bangladesh to testify in the investigation of crimes against humanity in the Rohingya expulsion. His colleagues will visit Bangladesh several times. Almost six years have passed since the brutal expulsion of the Rohingya from Rakhine, Myanmar.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has filed a genocide case against Myanmar. However, despite talk of repatriation as a way to solve the Rohingya problem, accountability for atrocities against Myanmar’s Muslim minority has yet to be confirmed.
According to diplomatic sources, Karim Khan will visit Cox’s Bazar during his visit to Bangladesh and exchange views with Rohingya representatives, like last year’s visit. He will encourage the Rohingyas to cooperate in various ways, especially by testifying in the ICC investigation.
