FROM PAGE 12

The ordinance authorised the commission to determine punishment and recommend punitive measures against responsible individuals and institutions, he said.

On April 9, parliament repealed three ordinances related to the NHRC, issued between 2024 and 2025.

He added that the weaknesses in the 2009 law were among the reasons the commission never received “A” category status under international standards.

Most past incidents of enforced disappearance, killing, and other rights violations involved allegations against certain members of law enforcement agencies, he said. “In such a context, retaining this provision would effectively serve as protection for them.”

Referring to section 13 of the draft, Iftekharuzzaman said the commission has not been given authority to investigate whether human rights violations are taking place.

He said the draft also removed the scope, included in the ordinance, for the commission to inspect, visit, and investigate possible detention sites of intelligence agencies and the military.

Such places may be used to keep people subjected to enforced disappearance and torture, he said.

TIB also raised concerns over the proposed selection committee for appointing commissioners.

According to the TIB statement, the committee would include the speaker, law minister, home minister, a ruling party lawmaker, and the cabinet secretary. Iftekharuzzaman said such a structure creates a serious risk of establishing government control over the commission.

He said the repealed ordinance stated that the National Human Rights Commission “shall not be under any ministry or department of the government”. This clause has been dropped from the draft law, he added.

“On one hand, the commission is described as an independent institution; on the other hand, what could be the justification for removing a clause that safeguards its autonomy and independence?” he asked.

TIB further said the ordinance required inclusion of representatives from ethnic minorities and women as commissioners, but the draft replaced that with the condition of finding “qualified candidates”.

Iftekharuzzaman said this could turn the commission into a “male-dominated” and “majoritarian” institution.

He also criticised provisions allowing 30 percent of the commission’s staffers to be deputed from government service and permitting a serving government employee to become a commissioner while on leave from their post.

Iftekharuzzaman said such provisions would, as in the past, place the commission under full bureaucratic and government control, reducing it to a “figurehead institution”.

The graft watchdog termed the move contradictory and self-defeating and urged the government to abandon this path. It also called on the government to reconsider the controversial provisions, taking into account concerns, to honour its election manifesto pledge to protect human rights and help establish an independent and effective National Human Rights Commission.