Human rights activists and senior lawyers on Saturday urged the government to bring the country鈥檚 disciplined forces under the jurisdiction of the National Human Rights Commission clearly to ensure their accountability for rights violations.
They also called for empowering the commission to be transparent and accountable to the people rather than to the president.
The call came at a dialogue on the Draft Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2025, organised by the Citizens鈥� Platform in the capital鈥檚 Gulshan.
Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya criticised the government for keeping the human rights commission and the Right to Information Commission inactive for over a year since the interim administration took office on August 8.
鈥楾his is a seized government,鈥� he said.
About the human rights commission, he said that a spineless good man was of no use, adding that if he had no back bone he could not run a human rights commission.
The speakers said that the commission should not serve as a 鈥榬ehab centre for retired bureaucrats鈥� or as a 鈥榯oothless tiger,鈥� but as a functional and independent institution.
The government has, meanwhile, drafted the 2025 ordinance with UNDP support to replace the National Human Rights Commission Act, 2009.
The draft mentions government agencies without specifically naming security and intelligence agencies.
Rights campaigners observed that the human rights commission had in the past focused on less critical issues while remaining silent on grave violations such as enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by security forces.
Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman stressed that the appointment of qualified commissioners with institutional capacity was crucial.
鈥楾he National Human Rights Commission should be independent, free, and functional, with transparency and accountability to the people,鈥� he said.
鈥榃hy should the commission,鈥� he went on to question, 鈥榬eport to the president instead of parliament?鈥�
He also demanded reforms in the security and intelligence agencies, including the Detective Branch, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, and the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre.
鈥楻ights violations in the name of 鈥渘ational security鈥� are unacceptable. An agency that fails to protect citizens鈥� rights cannot ensure national security,鈥� he added.
Speakers said that under the past regime, the human rights commission was turned into a rehabilitation centre for retired bureaucrats and remained dysfunctional during widespread rights violations.
High Court Division judge Moinul Islam Chowdhury said that although the judiciary is considered the protector of human rights, it too had failed during the previous government.
He urged that the new ordinance align with the Paris Principles.
He noted that the cabinet鈥檚 recently approved draft ordinance on preventing enforced disappearances also recommended granting the human rights commission broad powers.
Jurist Shahdeen Malik said that public expectations from the human rights commission should be realistic, pointing out that in most countries such bodies serve primarily as advisory institutions.
Speakers also demanded greater participation of women in the commission, district-level NHRC offices to receive complaints, formation of thematic groups, and permanent appointments based on qualifications rather than political considerations.
Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain argued that the NHRC chair should serve no more than one term and that compensation liability must be clearly defined.
She said that the commission should not be given more than one month time to address a human right violation issue. In the draft, six months were proposed, which is too long a time.
Lawyer and rights activist Jyotirmoy Barua said that the draft lacked provisions on eligibility of dual citizens as commissioners, and clarity on funding sources.
He also demanded safety of the victims.
Other discussants included Women Affairs Reform Commission head Shireen Huq, NHRC member Kalpana Akter, Maayer Daak co-founder Sanjida Islam Tulee, Nagorik Uddyog chief executive Zakir Hossain, and Chakma queen Yan Yan.
