The interim government on Thursday approved the draft of the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025, empowering the commission to investigate human rights violations committed by law enforcement agencies as well as abuses carried out under state sponsorship or with state support.
The government, at the weekly meeting of the council of advisers at the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office, also approved the draft of the July Uprising Memorial Museum Ordinance, 2025 and the draft of the Organ Transplantation Ordinance 2025.
The chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, chaired the meeting.
After the meeting, law adviser Asif Nazrul briefed the journalists at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
According to the draft ordinance of NHRC, the reconstituted commission will comprise a chairperson and four full-time members.
A seven-member selection committee, headed by an Appellate Division judge, will recommend appointments to vacant positions through a transparent process involving public notices and interviews鈥攕imilar to judicial appointments.
The ordinance empowers the NHRC with the authority to investigate human rights violations committed by law enforcement agencies and all acts of abuse carried out under state sponsorship or with state support.
The scope has been kept for the commission to investigate cases of custodial deaths and similar incidents, Asif Nazrul said.
Crucially, the ordinance makes compliance with the Commission鈥檚 orders mandatory.
One of the key reforms is the expanded definition of human rights, which now includes 鈥榬ights declared in various international human rights instruments ratified by Bangladesh and those recognized under customary international law.鈥�
It means that beyond the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh, the NHRC will have jurisdiction over violations of international human rights norms that Bangladesh has endorsed, the adviser added.
The ordinance also allows the commission to take primary responsibility for implementing laws related to enforced disappearance prevention, protection of victims, and other human rights protection laws.
Instead of forming a separate 鈥楨nforced Disappearance Commission鈥�, the NHRC will handle such cases, Asif Nazrul said.
鈥榃e have a human rights commission, which was largely ineffective due to structural flaws, weak mandates, and the appointment of individuals who lacked either authority or initiative,鈥� he said.
鈥榃e have tried to make it a far stronger and more functional institution capable of genuinely addressing human rights violations,鈥� he said.
The cabinet approved the draft of the July Uprising Memorial Museum Ordinance, 2025, aiming to establish a museum at Ganabhaban, the official residence of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in memory of the July mass uprising in 2024.
Asif Nazrul said that the museum would serve as a lasting tribute to the sacrifices and role of the youths during the July uprising and as a symbol of the fall of the former authoritarian regime.
鈥楿nder the new ordinance, the residence formerly used by the fascist prime minister, who is currently under trial for mass killing and crimes against humanity, has been officially declared the July Uprising Memorial Museum. It will be a separate museum,鈥� he said.
Noting that the museum will not operate as a branch of the National Museum, he said the ordinance has been formulated to establish the museum as a separate and autonomous entity, reflecting its unique historical and emotional significance.
Under the ordinance, the museum will have the authority to establish branch museums in other parts of the country, said the adviser.
The cabinet also gave the final approval to the draft of the Organ Transplantation Ordinance 2025.
Asif Nazrul said that, under the existing law, only immediate family members were legally permitted to donate organs such as kidneys or other vital body parts.
鈥楬owever, in many cases, patients were compelled to travel abroad to receive transplants, often involving monetary transactions with unrelated donors, which is an unethical and illegal practice,鈥� he said.
鈥楾he newly approved ordinance expands the legal scope, allowing non-family individuals with proven emotional attachment to the recipient to donate organs voluntarily and altruistically,鈥� he said.
The new law will enable patients to undergo transplants within Bangladesh, reducing both treatment costs and the need for foreign medical travel, he added.
Speaking at the briefing, the chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, said that the council of advisers also gave final approval to the draft of the Spatial Planning Ordinance, 2025.
The cabinet also gave in-principle and final approval to the draft of the Maximum Age Limit for Direct Recruitment in Government, Autonomous, Semi-Autonomous, Statutory, Government Authorities and Public Non-Financial Corporations, Self-governed Organisations (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 and the Forest Policy, 2025.
