International Crimes Strategy Forum (ICSF) welcomes the move by the Parliament of Bangladesh declaring March 25-th as the national commemoration day for genocide of 1971 that was perpetrated by the invading Pakistani military and their collaborators during the Liberation War of the country. ICSF takes this opportunity to thank all the members of Parliament present on this historic occasion who unanimously voted for this motion of great public interest regardless of their individual party-political affiliations.

ICSF, an independent global network of experts and activists operating in the interest of justice for the victims, has long campaigned for recognition of the international crimes committed against the Bengali populace in 1971. It is a strongly held position of ICSF that the Parliament’s decision to officially commemorate 25th March  as “Genocide Day”, which marked the beginning of nine-month long genocide and other international crimes,  would — reinforce the findings of the justice process of the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD), set a milestone in honouring the victims of international crimes in 1971, help regional and international recognition of the Bangladesh Genocide, and instill a greater understanding of the mechanics of genocide in all its forms as a nation-building exercise which may serve as a preventive safeguard against repetition of such atrocities in the future.