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HR body during coalition tenure, says Moudud

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Moudud Ahmed yesterday said the government would set up a national human rights commission during its tenure. "We are pledge-bound to the people to set up a national human rights commission and we will do it as soon as possible," Moudud said at a
press conference following a three-day International Conference on Institutional Protection of Human Rights in the capital.
Pressed by newsmen later to give a specific timeframe, the minister said the commission will be formed before the tenure of this government is over.
At the press conference, insisted FROM PAGE 12
on clarifying what he meant by 'as soon as possible' Moudud evaded a direct reply saying, "Please consult the dictionary to know this."
The minister said there is a wrong notion that the human rights body would be adversarial to the government but it is not true. "The human rights commission will be supplementary to the government, which will play its role in protecting rights of marginalised people, " he added.
Speaking at the press conference, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Jorgen Lissner said people of Bangladesh are convinced that a national human rights commission is needed here to protect human rights.
Referring to the finance minister's comment on his reported remarks on human rights commission, Lissner said a leading national daily misquoted him on Monday.
The finance minister had termed Lissner's remarks undiplomatic.
Lissner, also resident representative of United Nations Development Programme, yesterday said donors did not invent Article 77 of Bangladesh's constitution (concerning human rights), so the government should not deviate from it.
Regarding donors' intervention in Bangladesh's internal matters, he said, "We are the people of the same world. So, what is wrong if we propose anything for the good of Bangladeshi people."
"People of Bangladesh get into Airbus while travelling abroad but Airbus is not made in Bangladesh. Then why people put their trust on Airbus," he remarked.
Presenting the key findings of the three-day conference, Prof Brian Burdekin, former special adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said it is clear from repeated statements of the government and the opposition that both support establishment of a national human rights commission.
"Theoretically, court is accessible to all but the reality is different. A national human rights commission would play a vital role in protecting human rights of marginalised people," he said.
"The origin of your religion (Islam) is Middle-East and laws of my
country largely came from the United Kingdom. So, it is no matter where the origin is but we have to look into whether things are good or bad," Burdekin observed.
He also said Bangladesh has ratified all major international human rights treaties but ratification without implementation is meaningless.
Earlier, speaking at the concluding session of the conference as chief guest, the law minister said misuse and overuse of Special Powers Act (SPA) have greatly reduced.
"Currently only 143 people are behind bars under the SPA but previously the number of people arrested under the SPA was not less than 10,000 and sometimes the number was 40,000," Moudud said.
He also said the government has directed the police force to make minimum possible use of the SPA. Police do not have enough logistic support to tackle crime properly, he mentioned.
Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Lorraine Barker said Bangladesh is lagging behind compared to its neighbouring countries in the filed of human rights.
Lissner and Burdekin also addressed the concluding session.