Arusha, 29 March 2019– The President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Judge Carmel Agius, will conduct an official visit to the Republic of Rwanda from 1 to 7 April 2019.

During this week, President Agius will hold a series of meetings with high-level Government officials. In addition, he will visit a number of memorial sites and meet with members of civil society, including victims’ groups. As part of his programme, the President will also spend time with staff from the Mechanism’s field office in Kigali. President Agius will further participate in the Kwibuka25 International Conference, and conclude his visit by attending the official ceremony marking the 25^th commemoration of the Rwandan Genocide on Sunday, 7 April 2019.   

This will be President Agius’ first visit to the Republic of Rwanda in his capacity as President of the Mechanism, in line with his stated intention to foster close ties between the Mechanism and the Government and people of Rwanda. 

President Agius assumed the Presidency of the Mechanism on 19 January 2019, having been a Judge of the Mechanism since its inception in 2012. He previously served for 16 years as a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including as its Vice-President (2011-2015) and final President (2015-2017).

Washington/Baltimore, 16 March 2019 marked the unfortunate passing of H.E. Dr. Virachai Plasai, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States of America. Ambassador Virachai Plasai was a former Thai Ambassador to the Netherlands, 2009 – 2015.

Prior to being appointed as Ambassador, Dr. Plasai was the Director-General, Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs from September 2007 to May 2009.  He also served as Director-General of Department of International Economic Affairs during 2006-2007.

His other overseas posts were as First Secretary at the Royal Thai Embassy in London and as Minister Counselor for legal affairs at the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.  While serving as the Thai Ambassador to The Hague, he also acted as the agent of the Kingdom of Thailand in the case concerning the interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the case concerning the “Temple of Preah Vihear” (Cambodia v. Thailand) before the International Court of Justice. 

For over three decades, Dr Virachai Plasai served his beloved Thailand with dedication and distinction. He was an expert in international law and he earned the respect from various quarters. Ambassador  Virachai Plasai received the Knight Grand Cross, Order of Orange-Nassau for serving as a Thai Ambassador in the Netherlands.

Ambassador Virachai Plasai was an ardent lover of music and a gifted and passionate basse player. He entertained and enthralled many of us here in The Hague at events hosted by Diplomat magazine.

Ambassador Virachai Plasai leaves to mourn his wife, Elizabeth Plasai, a former committee member of the Association of Spouses of Ambassadors in the Netherlands (ASA).

His calm, generous and creative personality will be missed. The bass may have been silenced, but the music and the memories will continue to bring joy and warmth to our hearts.

Mr. Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust.

By Guido Lanfranchi.

On March 21^st, 2019, Eurojust opened its headquarters to host a socio-cultural event at the crossroads of justice priorities, art, culture, and gastronomy. The event, co-organized by Eurojust and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, showcased the beauty of the Romanian culture, as well as Eurojust’s precious achievements.

Eurojust headquarters in The Hague might be used to host law enforcement experts, member states’ prosecutors, or even high-level political figures. Yet, on March 21^st, 2019, the organization’s premises looked different than in other days, as Eurojust prepared to host an unprecedented socio-cultural event, in collaboration with the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The building’s main hall was decorated with the flags of Eurojust, the European Union, and Romania; tables across the room were filled with snacks, drinks, and flyers advertising some of Romania’s touristic attractions; and all around, the walls were decorated with precious paintings. For an afternoon, Eurojust’s premises would be not just a workplace, but rather a crossroad between judicial cooperation, art, culture, and gastronomy.

Once the main hall had been filled by large groups of incoming guests, the organizers kicked off the official part of the event with their introductory remarks. Mr. Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, was the first one to take the floor to welcome the guests. Introducing the event’s motto of “justice meets culture”, President Hamran showcased to the audience a tangible result of the intersection between these two worlds: a historical relic, a frame dating back to the times of Marcus Aurelius, stolen in 2002 in Romania and recently recovered thanks to the cooperation between member states’ judicial authorities and Eurojust.

H.E. Mrs. Brândușa Predescu, Ambassador of Romania in the Netherlands, took the floor right after Mr. Hamran, echoing his words of praise for the cooperation between Eurojust and the Embassy. In her remarks, the Ambassador underlined the importance of “cohesion”, the crucial priority of the Romanian Presidency. She stressed the importance of cooperation among European member states across different domains, including those of judiciary and culture, and concluded by inviting the guests to enjoy the typical Romanian art, music, and food featured in the event.

The Ambassador’s speech was followed by the remarks of Ms. Daniela Buruiană, Romania’s National Member at Eurojust, who stressed the importance of cooperation among states in the field of judiciary. Ms. Buruiană then introduced a keynote guest, Mr. Augustin Lazăr, the Romanian General Prosecutor, widely known for his contribution to judicial cases concerning artworks and historical relics.

Mr. Lazăr recalled Eurojust’s significance as the “first supranational prosecutor’s office authority in history”, also praising the contribution of Romanian professor Vespasian V. Pella in setting the spark for the creation of contemporary institutions such as Eurojust and the International Criminal Court.

The conclusion of Mr. Lazăr’s remarks paved the way for the cultural side of the event, as the music started to reach the ears of the guests. The stage was taken by a trio of talented Romanian musicians, all independently active in the jazz scene all over the Netherlands and Europe. With Ms. Tereza Catarov at the voice, Mr. George Dumitru at the guitar, and Mr. Alex Simu at the clarinet, the trio had prepared a particular repertoire for the occasion, showcasing a mix between jazz, the three musicians’ speciality, and Romanian folk – Mr. Simu explained.

The musical intermezzo was then followed by an introduction of the contemporary art exhibition “Transylvanian Lights”, by painter and professor Ioan Sbârciu and curator Ms. Maria Rus Bojan. Ms. Bojan, a member of the International Association of Art Critics, introduced the exhibition before giving the floor to Prof. Sbârciu.

Welcoming the new opportunity to exhibit his paintings in such an unconventional environment, the internationally renowned painter addressed the guests by stressing the great freedom enjoyed in our society nowadays, and inciting the audience to “move ahead, but always remembering our roots”.

As the musicians took the stage for another time, the guests started to mingle in Eurojust’s main hall, enjoying the sounds and tasting the snacks and the drinks offered by the organizers. All the participants, included the keynote speakers and the artists, remained for a long time in the room, enjoying conversations and exchanging greetings. The Romanian Presidency at Eurojust definitely started off on the right foot!

The Honorary Consul of Finland in Willemstad, Mrs. Helvig van de Laarschot-Jonckheer, paid a courtesy visit to the Dean of the Consular Corps of Curaçao, Mr. Karel Frielink.

During the meeting, the development and future of both Finland and Curaçao were discussed. The strengthening of the economic ties between the two countries and the Finnish education system, which is highly regarded worldwide, were also discussed.

The courtesy visit also provided the opportunity for both sides to share and exchange views on other issues of mutual interest.

The Hague, March 23: The Bengali community in Europe is stepping up efforts to have Pakistan’s actions in Bangladesh in 1971 recognised as genocide.

Activists gathered outside the International Court  of Justice and permanent Shaheed Minar in The Hague the Netherlands on March 23, calling for international action.

This was part of the day-long program of the Europe-based diaspora organization European Bangladesh Forum (EBF) on international recognition of the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh’ in The Hague.

A number of experts with an international reputation, working on this area from the UK America, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and Bangladesh participated in the conference.

EBF Vice President Writer and Journalist Bikash Chowdhury Barua opened the conference with his opening remarks and provided background of the thematic issue of the seminar.

Jakob de Jong, Director of The Hague Peace, chaired the seminar, while Chris Blackburn, political analyst and journalist, from the UK, Shomi Kaiser, daughter of martyred intellectual and writer Shahidullah Kaiser, Dr. Wolfgang-Peter Zingel, South Asia Institute (SAI), University of Heidelberg, Germany presented keynote papers. Arif Yousuf, Film Director of BLOCAKDE from America and Duncan Bartlett, a British journalist, Bangladesh Ambassador in the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammad Belal attended the seminar as honoured guests and addressed the public while EBF President Ansar Ahmed Ullah moderated the panel discussion. Jahangir Chowdhury, AL Secretary of Belgium also spoke. Video messages of Dr. Meghna Guha Thakurta and Dr. Nuzhat Chowdhury from Dhaka were screened on the day. Both are the members of the martyred intellectual families.

Among others Diplomats from South African Embassy in the Netherlands Andre Stammet, Member of the Executive Board of PEN Finland Dr. Mojibur Doftori, Mahmud Hassan, EBF Secretary Bikash Roy, Coordinator of Global Solidarity for Peace Committee M. M. Morshed, community leaders Murad Khan, Daud Khan Sohel, Khokon Sharif, Dutch-Bangladeshi Industrialist Jasim Uddin Litton, Social Worker Monowar Mohammad took part in the open discussion.

They said that more than three million people were killed when the Pakistani Army used force to suppress an independence campaign. They also said there was widespread sexual violence against women, including rape and gang rape. “Bangladesh cannot move forward until it faces its past,” said Shomi Kaiser, whose father was killed by the Pakistani army when she was a child. “The fight for justice is a long battle,” she said.

Kaiser said, it was appropriate to focus the campaign in The Hague because it is regarded as “the city of justice” due to its history of court cases trying crimes against humanity.

Dr Wolfgang-Peter Zingel, from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, told the European Bangladesh Forum: “The genocide in Bangladesh was not an accident of history.” Drawing comparisons with the Holocaust of Jews by the Nazis, Dr Zingel warned, “If you want to prevent such atrocities happening again, you must look in detail at their causes and record them.”

British political analyst Chris Blackburn said international cooperation was the best way to respond to human rights violations and noted that many of the issues from 1971 are still relevant to South Asia. “Some people say, ‘let sleeping dogs lie’,” said Blackburn. “But these are not sleeping dogs – these are dogs which are still biting.”

The event in The Hague included the screening of a documentary film entitled “Blockade” which examined the response of the peace movement to Pakistan’s violence in the early 1970s. The film’s director Arif Yousuf said, he wanted to highlight the support by the United States government for the Pakistani army at that time, which he said was part of President Nixon’s strategy to contain Communism in Asia.

The Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sheikh Mohammad Belal, said, “No other country should face the injustice and trauma that Bangladesh has endured.” Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed by soldiers loyal to Pakistan, has declared March 25th a national day to commemorate genocide. The date falls on the anniversary of the start of Operation Searchlight in 1971, which marked the start of military actions in what was then known as East Pakistan.

EBF had also organised a photo exhibition displaying the brutality and killings by the Pakistani army and their local collaborators during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Following the seminar, a reception was held for the guests and participants in BASUG office, where Shomi Kaiser, Shyamol Shil, Simu Nahar, Shompa Bala and German-Bangladeshi Singer Abdul Munim rendered musical soiree. Poets Monwar Mohammad, Mir Zabeda Yeasmin Imi and Hossain Abdul Hai recited their self-composed poems.

.