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A coalition of human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), issued a joint statement on Monday urging the government of Bangladesh to refrain from adopting the current version of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Bill, 2026, a draft law that replaces the National Human Rights Ordinance 2025. They recommended that authorities amend the proposed law in compliance with international human rights standards, particularly the Paris Principles regarding the status of national human rights institutions.
According to HRW, the proposed NHRC bill constitutes a regression from the human rights safeguards provided by the 2025 ordinance. The rights group stated that the new bill weakens the NHRC’s mandate instead of strengthening it and that its implementation risks creating a symbolic body with limited authority rather than a strong and independent institution.
Among the several criticisms leveled against the bill, the rights groups highlighted that the structure of the NHRC under the 2026 bill seriously undermines the independence of the commission, given that it is dominated by government officials. The coalition noted that this increases the risk of political influence over appointments in addition to expanding executive influence over the commission’s functioning, which is contrary to the Paris Principles.
Furthermore, the proposed bill significantly narrows the NHRC’s mandate to promote and protect human rights by removing numerous functions previously assigned to the institution, such as the protection of human rights defenders from harassment, engagement with civil society organizations, and advising the government on international human rights treaties.
Another concern raised by the rights groups is that the NHRC Bill 2026 establishes a special procedure to investigate potential human rights violations committed by security agencies, which may lead to shielding security forces from accountability. Specifically, the bill requires the NHRC to rely on reports conducted by the chief of the security force accused of committing violations or reports submitted by the government, a process that rights groups say violates the principle of impartial investigations.
Consequently, the organizations called on the Bangladeshi government to revise the proposed NHRC Bill 2026 to ensure the creation of a national commission able to independently investigate all state actors and protect vulnerable communities. They also enumerated a set of recommendations that authorities should take into consideration to amend the bill in accordance with the standards set by the Paris Principles in order to establish a credible human rights commission.
Bangladesh has previously received calls from HRW to strengthen human rights protection after the country went through nationwide protests marked by human rights abuses and a highly tense climate. In January 2026, Amnesty International called on Bangladeshi political parties to prioritise human rights issues during the February 12 elections. For this purpose, the interim government, formed following the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, enacted the NHRC Ordinance 2025 to strengthen Bangladesh’s human rights watchdog. However, the government replaced the 2025 ordinance with the NHRC Bill 2026, which has previously been criticised by Transparency International Bangladesh for allegedly undermining the commission’s independence from the executive.
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According to HRW, the proposed NHRC bill constitutes a regression from the human rights safeguards provided by the 2025 ordinance. The rights group stated that the new bill weakens the NHRC’s mandate instead of strengthening it and that its implementation risks creating a symbolic body with limited authority rather than a strong and independent institution.
Among the several criticisms leveled against the bill, the rights groups highlighted that the structure of the NHRC under the 2026 bill seriously undermines the independence of the commission, given that it is dominated by government officials. The coalition noted that this increases the risk of political influence over appointments in addition to expanding executive influence over the commission’s functioning, which is contrary to the Paris Principles.
Furthermore, the proposed bill significantly narrows the NHRC’s mandate to promote and protect human rights by removing numerous functions previously assigned to the institution, such as the protection of human rights defenders from harassment, engagement with civil society organizations, and advising the government on international human rights treaties.
Another concern raised by the rights groups is that the NHRC Bill 2026 establishes a special procedure to investigate potential human rights violations committed by security agencies, which may lead to shielding security forces from accountability. Specifically, the bill requires the NHRC to rely on reports conducted by the chief of the security force accused of committing violations or reports submitted by the government, a process that rights groups say violates the principle of impartial investigations.
Consequently, the organizations called on the Bangladeshi government to revise the proposed NHRC Bill 2026 to ensure the creation of a national commission able to independently investigate all state actors and protect vulnerable communities. They also enumerated a set of recommendations that authorities should take into consideration to amend the bill in accordance with the standards set by the Paris Principles in order to establish a credible human rights commission.
Bangladesh has previously received calls from HRW to strengthen human rights protection after the country went through nationwide protests marked by human rights abuses and a highly tense climate. In January 2026, Amnesty International called on Bangladeshi political parties to prioritise human rights issues during the February 12 elections. For this purpose, the interim government, formed following the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, enacted the NHRC Ordinance 2025 to strengthen Bangladesh’s human rights watchdog. However, the government replaced the 2025 ordinance with the NHRC Bill 2026, which has previously been criticised by Transparency International Bangladesh for allegedly undermining the commission’s independence from the executive.
The post Rights groups urge Bangladesh to amend national human rights commission bill appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.