[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 99 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       JUSTICE FOR MIR QUASEM ALI

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2012

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, last week, as a Member of 
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East 
and South Asia, I met Mir Ahmad BinQuasem of Bangladesh. Mir Ahmad 
informed me that his father, Mir Quasem Ali, was arrested on June 17, 
2012, by the Bangladesh International, War, Crimes Tribunal for alleged 
crimes committed during the 1971 War of Liberation against then-West 
Pakistan, and for campaigning ``against the process of this [War 
Crimes] Tribunal in foreign countries.'' Mir Quasem Ali is the owner of 
Bangladesh's largest opposition-run media outlet, which has been openly 
critical of the Tribunal and of the ruling government at-large. As 
such, I am concerned that his arrest and ongoing detention may 
represent a thinly-veiled attempt by the ruling government of 
Bangladesh to silence its opponents and critics.
  In addition to my concerns about this arrest, it has come to my 
attention that the Tribunal itself is inherently flawed and lacks 
compliance with international standards. It appears that the Tribunal 
is international in name only, as it lacks international oversight or 
involvement, experienced foreign attorneys have been banned from 
participating, and the Tribunal violates at least two of Bangladesh's 
international treaty obligations. Tribunal defendants are not only 
denied access to international standards of justice, but several of the 
rights granted by domestic law. These include the right to an 
independent appeal, which is explicitly denied to defendants of the 
Tribunal.
  As a member of the Middle East and South Asia subcommittee, I am very 
concerned about the implications that Mir Quasem Ali's arrest has for 
the state of democracy within Bangladesh. I will continue to closely 
monitor this situation and I hope that Bangladesh will take assertive 
measures to ensure that its upcoming elections are conducted in a 
openly democratic matter. I am hopeful for a bright future for the 
people of Bangladesh with open and fair justice for all of its 
citizens.

                          ____________________