The bodies of 10 victims of the Gazipur factory fire were handed over to their families on Monday after collecting DNA samples. Additional Deputy Commissioner Shahinur Islam, head of an investigation committee formed by the district administration, said the postmortem examinations were carried out at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital before they were handed over to their families. The victims were identified as – Tariqul Islam of Mymensingh; Limon Islam and Foysal Khan of Dinajpur; Uttam Chandra Das of Sadar upazila; Shamim and Rashed from Gazipur’s Sreepur; Faridul Islam of Rangpur; Sajal Mia of Narsingdi; Pervez of Naogaon; and Yusuf Mia of Brahmanbaria. They were killed in a fire that ripped through ‘Rouza High-tech Fan Luxury’ factory at Keshorita in Sadar upazila on Sunday evening. A five-member committee was formed to look into the fire. It has been asked to submit its report within seven working days. Source: UNB AH

10 people were burnt to death as a fan factory at Baria union under Gazipur sadar upazila caught fire. The fire originated in the evening of Sunday. Three fire and rescue response units from Joydevpur rushed to the spot to douse the fire. Deputy Assistant Director of Fire Service Md. Mamunur Rashid said, the fire broke out on the second floor of the fan factory at Keshorta area under Gazipur sadar upazila. The cause of fire is yet to be known. AH       

A worker was killed and at least 25 others suffered burn injuries as a fire broke out at a plastic factory at Hijaltola in Dakkhin Keraniganj on Wednesday. Victims said the fire broke out at the factory, which produces onetime plastic glasses and cups, around 4:30pm after a gas cylinder went off with a big bang. On information, seven firefighting units rushed in and they were trying to douse the flame till filing of the report at 6pm, said Shah Jaman, officer-in-charge of Dakkhin Keraniganj Police Station. Firefighters recovered the charred body of the dead worker from the factory, said Saiful Islam of Keraniganj Fire Service Station. Babul, a worker of the factory, said at least four workers got trapped inside the factory. There was another fire incident at the factory in February last. Source: UNB AH

Myanmar's former pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday denied that her country's armed forces committed genocide against the Rohingya minority, telling the U.N.'s top court that the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Muslims was the unfortunate result of a battle with insurgents. In a measured tone, Suu Kyi calmly refuted allegations that the army had killed civilians, raped women and torched houses in 2017 in what Myanmar's accusers describe as a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide that saw more than 700,00 Rohingya flee to neighboring Bangladesh. She said the allegations stem from "an internal armed conflict started by coordinated and comprehensive armed attacks ... to which Myanmar's defense services responded. Tragically, this armed conflict led to the exodus of several hundred thousand Muslims." Her appearance at the International Court of Justice was striking in that Suu Kyi was defending the very armed forces that had kept her under house arrest for about 15 years. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in absentia for championing democracy and rights under Myanmar's then-ruling junta. A small group of her supporters gathered Wednesday outside The Hague-based court. Suu Kyi told the court that the African nation of Gambia, which brought the legal action against Myanmar on behalf of the 57-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation, had provided "an incomplete and misleading factual picture" of what happened in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in August 2017. Gambia alleges that genocide was committed and is still ongoing. It has asked the world court to take action to stop the violence, including "all measures within its power to prevent all acts that amount to or contribute to the crime of genocide" in Myanmar. But Suu Kyi said developments in one of Myanmar's poorest regions are "complex and not easy to fathom." She detailed how the army responded on Aug. 25, 2017, to attacks by insurgents trained by Afghan and Pakistan extremists. Addressing the court in her capacity as Myanmar's foreign minister, Suu Kyi insisted that the country's armed forces had tried "to reduce collateral damage" during fighting in 12 locations. While conceding that excessive force might have been used and that one helicopter may have killed "non-combatants," Suu Kyi said a Myanmar investigation is looking into what happened and should be allowed to finish its work. "Can there be genocidal intent on the part of a state that actively investigates, prosecutes and punishes soldiers and officers who are accused of wrongdoing?" she asked the court. Suu Kyi and Myanmar's legal team argued that the genocide convention does not apply to Myanmar. They invoked Croatia during the Balkans wars in the 1990s, saying that no genocide was deemed there when thousands of people were forced from their homes by fighting. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou urged the International Court of Justice to "tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings, to stop these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience, to stop this genocide of its own people." Also Tuesday, the U.S. slapped economic sanctions on four Myanmar military officers suspected of human rights violations. It sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing, commander of Myanmar's armed forces, over allegations of serious rights abuses. Deputy commander Soe Win and two other military leaders, Than Oo and Aung Aung, were also targeted. "There are credible claims of mass-scale rape and other forms of sexual violence committed by soldiers under Min Aung Hlaing's command," a U.S.  statement said. The court's hearings on Myanmar are scheduled to end Thursday. Source: AP/UNB AH

The hearing on genocide by Myanmar against Rohingyas is all set to begin at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday in The Hague, Netherlands as the Gambia asked the top UN court to urgently order measures “to stop Myanmar’s genocidal conduct.” Bosnia and Herzegovina had asked for provisional measures when filing its Genocide Convention case against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 20, 1993. In that case, the ICJ issued an order several weeks later, on April 8, 1993. The timeline for a decision on the provisional measures can be relatively quick, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW). Delegations from the Gambia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Canada already reached the Netherlands to remain engaged in the issue inside and outside the top UN court during the three-day hearing on provisional measures through multiple mechanisms, officials said. “We’ve discussed internally on what documents we can further share,” an official from Bangladesh delegation told UNB over phone.  A Bangladesh delegation, led by Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, is already there in The Hague. The delegation has some civil society members, too and they will have meetings with stakeholders and observe the hearing.   Bangladesh and Canada are working closely over the Rohingya issue, especially on accountability front, officials said. Though Bangladesh will watch and listen to the hearing making no statement, it will be helpful for Bangladesh to interact with other stakeholders during the hearing, officials said. “Just arriving in The Hague for three days of ICJ hearings and meetings on the Rohingya genocide issue, one of several accountability measures Canada is working with other countries to pursue,” Bob Rae, Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar tweeted on Monday. Bob Rae, who has been very instrumental on the accountability track, said he is proud of both his government and parliament for thoughtful and decisive leadership. The ICJ’s 15-member bench is composed of judges from different countries representing the world’s main legal systems. ICJ judges work independently of any government and before taking up their duties, must solemnly declare in open court that they will “exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.” Each judge is elected to serve a nine-year term. The Tatmadaw’s (Myanmar military) well-documented crimes against the Rohingya and other ethnic minority groups in Myanmar span decades, but until Gambia brought a case before the ICJ, the government’s atrocities had largely been beyond the reach of justice, said the HRW. Among the provisional measures that the Gambia has requested the court to order “as a matter of extreme urgency” are that Myanmar should immediately take all measures to prevent all genocidal acts; Myanmar should ensure that the military does not commit any genocidal acts; and Myanmar should not destroy or render inaccessible any events related to the underlying application. On November 11, the Gambia filed a case with the United Nations’ highest court, accusing Myanmar of committing “genocide” in its campaign against its Rohingya Muslim minority and the case may take many years to reach a final ruling. The case was filed by the Gambia, as Chair of the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations against the Rohingya, for violations by Myanmar of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. As part of the lawsuit, the ICJ is requested to impose provisional measures, as a matter of extreme urgency, to protect the Rohingya against further harm by ordering Myanmar to stop all of its genocidal conducts immediately. Genocide is a crime under international law, as well as international criminal law and all States have an obligation to prevent, to punish, and to not commit genocide, said the OIC in a statement. Ahead of the hearing, Fortify Rights has said the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should issue “provisional measures” to Myanmar in response to the urgent situation of indigenous ethnic Rohingyas in the country. New evidence shows how the government of Myanmar continues to violate its obligations under the Genocide Convention, said the rights body which works to ensure human rights for all. “We’re confident the court will urgently and appropriately respond to the situation,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. Gambia Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubacarr Marie Tambadou and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi are leading the lawyers on behalf of their respective countries during the December 10-12 hearing at International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Suu Kyi will make her statement on December 11. Bangladesh keeps exploring all available avenues through bilateral and international mechanisms to send back Rohingyas safely to their place of origin in Rakhine State with an active trilateral effort with China and Myanmar in place. “We want to work in all areas with the same pace,” said Secretary (Asia and Pacific) at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Masud Bin Momen recently who is also in The Hague now. He said the issue of “accountability and justice” is a matter of high moral ground as genocidal acts took place; and the international community has responsibility to address the issue. Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas and most of them entered Cox’s Bazar since August 25, 2017 amid military crackdown on Rohingyas in Rakhine State. Not a single Rohingya was repatriated over the last two years due to Myanmar’s “failure” to build confidence among Rohingyas and lack of a conducive environment in Rakhine State, officials said. Bangladesh has so far handed over names of over 1 lakh Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities for verification and subsequently is expediting their repatriation efforts but Myanmar is yet to take back its nationals from Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka. Source: UNB AH