NHRC ordinance ‘trapped by bureaucratic control’, says TIB

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has claimed that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ordinance is being “held hostage by a bureaucratic takeover”.

In a media statement on Saturday, the local chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International, a global anti-corruption organisation, criticised the bureaucracy, saying a window to form an independent, effective human rights commission free from government influence has now been effectively “destroyed”.

The TIB described the inclusion of the cabinet secretary in the commission’s selection committee, without keeping stakeholders involved in the ordinance-making process informed, as “a clear example of the authoritarian practices of reform-resistant bureaucrats”.

Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said stakeholders had hoped the gazetted NHRC ordinance would free the commission from longstanding bureaucratic control and align it with international standards and public expectations.

He said changes to the selection committee on Dec 8, barely a month later, have turned that possibility into a tool of government control.

 “This is not an isolated incident. It is part of a continuing pattern of government influence over the human rights commission and other constitutional and legal bodies,” he added.

Iftekharuzzaman noted bureaucratic dominance and government acceptance are “deeply disappointing” and have rendered the provision establishing a national preventive mechanism against “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” meaningless.

The inclusion of the cabinet secretary in the selection committee, he said, alone undermines the commission’s independence, neutrality, and effectiveness. Changes replacing mandatory reporting of non-compliance with a permissive “may be informed” clause further weaken the ordinance.

The TIB has urged the government to revoke the cabinet secretary’s role and fully revise the ordinance.