ZYMA ISLAM

The National Human Rights Commission’s current inability to investigate disciplined forces remains a major structural barrier to eradicating state-sanctioned human rights abuses in Bangladesh, according to United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Dr Alice Edwards, who called for urgent legal reforms to align the body with global independence standards.

In an interview with The Daily Star, Dr Edwards noted that there needs to be a legislative instrument that grants full autonomy to the human rights watchdog if Bangladesh is serious about its human rights commitments. “Unfortunately, the ordinance that was meant to be extended from the interim government has lapsed,” she noted.

“They (the government) have indicated to me that they intend to make some adjustments to the law. We don’t yet know what those adjustments are, but they should certainly be in alignment with the A-status requirements of this international oversight body,” said the UN expert.

She went on to outline what the NHRC needs to look like in order

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