Due legal process will be followed in Sigma's case
Dhaka assures UN secy gen
Staff Correspondent
The foreign ministry yesterday assured that the legal proceedings against the detained Sigma Huda, a UN Special Rapporteur and wife of former BNP minister Nazmul Huda, would follow due process. The ministry was responding to a statement of UN Secretary General issued by a spokesperson on Tuesday.According to the UN statement, the charges brought against Sigma, as explained by the Bangladesh government, do not fall within or relate to her functions as a UN Special Rapporteur and therefore, disqualifies her from receiving immunity under a UN convention. Sigma was appointed a special rapporteur on trafficking in persons by the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 2004. She is currently held under two charges of extortion of up to Tk 2 crores. Special rapporteurs enjoy the privileges and immunities necessary for the independent exercise of their functions as experts on mission under the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, according to the UN statement. It said, "The responsibility to determine whether privileges and immunities apply in a given situation is vested in the Secretary General." But the statement also said, "Under the convention, states wishing to initiate legal proceedings against Special Rapporteurs are expected to bring the matter promptly to the attention of the Secretary General." "Regrettably, the Government of Bangladesh did not do so in this case. The United Nations sought information from the Government of Bangladesh with a view to ascertaining the nature of the charges brought against Ms Huda and their relationship to her functions as Special Rapporteur," the statement added.
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