Human Rights Commission ‘automatically’ dissolved, outgoing commissioners write open letter

The members of the National Human Rights Commission have resigned following the repeal of an ordinance issued during the interim government regarding the commission. They also wrote an open letter after their resignation.

However, former commission member Nur Khan said that they were not asked to resign by the government. He said they were kept in a state of ambiguity. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that since they had been appointed after the earlier ordinance, they considered resignation appropriate as it was no longer in effect.

Meanwhile, the commission’s secretary, Kudrat-e-Elahi, also said that with the repeal of the ordinance, the previous commission had automatically ceased to exist. However, he added that he had not read the commission members’ open letter.

On Thursday (9 April), the National Human Rights Commission (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill was passed by voice vote in Parliament. The bill states that it will come into effect immediately. In this case, it will be effective upon publication of the gazette following presidential approval.

Overriding opposition objections, the ordinance was repealed and the ‘National Human Rights Commission Act’ made in 2009 during the Awami League government was reinstated through the passage of the bill in Parliament.

The chairperson and members of the National Human Rights Commission were appointed on 5 February this year, at the very end of the interim government’s tenure. Former High Court judge Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury was appointed as chairperson. Based on the recommendation of a selection committee, the president made the appointments.

Members of the commission included members of the interim government’s Enforced Disappearance Commission, Mohammad Nur Khan and Nabila Idris, with teacher of political science at Dhaka University Mohammad Sharif Ul Islam, and human rights activist Ilira Dewan.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024 in the face of a student, people-led uprising, the commission formed during that government remained in place until November. On 7 November, several officials of a state intelligence agency visited the commission’s office in Karwan Bazar. They stayed there throughout the day.

In the evening, then chairperson Kamal Uddin Ahmed, full-time member Mohammad Selim Reza, and four other members—Biswajit Chandra, Professor Tania Haque, Aminul Islam and Kangjari Chowdhury—resigned. Another member, Kawsar Ahmed, had resigned earlier. Several commission officials told Prothom Alo at the time that these members were “forced to resign”.

After that, appointments to the Human Rights Commission remained suspended for a long period. Later, the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025 was issued. It was finally approved by the council of advisers on 30 October that year. Based on that ordinance, the outgoing members were appointed on 5 February this year.

The open letter written by the outgoing members of the National Human Rights Commission following their resignation after the repeal of the interim government’s ordinance is available on social media.

Titled ‘Open letter of the outgoing commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission’, the letter presents their position and views on the repeal of the ordinance under three subheadings: ‘Response to incorrect information presented in Parliament’, ‘Actual objections of the government against the ordinances’, and ‘Proposal for assessing the quality of future laws’.

At the beginning of the letter it states, “As the relevant ordinances were not passed in Parliament, victims repeatedly ask us, ‘What will happen to us now?’ It is out of accountability to them that we have written this open letter.”

“We are five outgoing human rights commissioners. Our respective careers have been dedicated to the protection of human rights. Through this long experience, we are well acquainted with the suffering of victims, the daily constraints of law enforcement agencies, and the complexities of the legal field. Therefore, not for any institutional or personal interest, but out of a sense of duty towards victims, we have taken up the pen today,” it continued.

The open letter is given below: