What type of Human Rights Commission this one is

EditorialProthom Alo illustration

Nasima Begum and her colleagues could not answer many questions at a press conference convened by the National Human Rights Commission to highlight the organisation’s activities of past two years. It could easily be construed from their answers that they have just been following the orders like other government agencies. They have no stance of their own. The press conference was held at the office of the National Human Rights Commission at Karwan Bazar in the capital on Sunday.

While the incidents of human rights violations in Bangladesh are being discussed and criticised globally beyond the borders of the country, the inaction of the National Human Rights Commission is very unfortunate. If the human rights of a citizen are violated by the state, it is the responsibility and duty of the Human Rights Commission to redress it.

If victims seek remedy from the commission, it will be their job to investigate and ask the authorities concerned to look into it. The commission may seek recourse from the higher court. However, the National Human Rights Commission has not been able to establish such a precedent. In addition, they can investigate human rights violations on their own initiative.

The National Human Rights Commission started its journey in Bangladesh during the caretaker government through an ordinance in 2007, the Awami League came to power in 2009 and enacted a law and the commission was restructured. After a decade of its formation, the organisation could not play any role in protecting human rights or preventing human rights violations.

During the tenure of the former chairman, the commission raised voice a bit on various issues, but now silent mysteriously. The chairman of the commission said that they do not believe in words but in actions. But did the people of the country see any action yet?

At the press conference, journalists drew the commission's attention to the US sanctions against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its seven former and current officers. But neither the chairman nor his colleagues could reply to that.

In connection with the extrajudicial killing of Ekramul Haque, a municipal councillor in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar, the chairman said they had stepped back in May 2018 after a case was filed. The fact is that no case has been registered in the Ekramul murder. Hundreds of such allegations of human rights violations have gone unnoticed by human rights protectors.

According to the commission, neither the home ministry nor the concerned government department listens to their recommendations. But section 14 (6) of the commission law states that if any department ignores the commission, they can report the matter to the president. The president will present a copy of the report in the parliament. But they have not felt the need to report any incidents to the president in the last 12 years. For this reason, in the context of a case, the High Court in 2019 made a comment that the commission has been showing a gross negligence in fulfilling the responsibilities assigned under the Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Commission was pretending to be asleep, the court remarked.

The people want to see a vigilant human rights commission, not a dormant body, who will not act as a loyal body to the government, maintain its distinctive and independent position. It is difficult to find a rationale for having such an ineffective human rights commission.