Weak NHRC to backfire on govt

If the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Act-2026 is enacted according to the current draft, there is a risk that NHRC ‘s powers will be curtailed and its independence and effectiveness will be affected, Executive Director of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman.

“Those who fail to establish an effective institution end up acting against their own interests,”” he said at a consultation titled “Draft National Human Rights Commission Act 2026: Review and Recommendations by the Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) and TIB”, held at the TIB office in the city’s Dhanmondi area on Thursday.

He said, “They create a Frankenstein for themselves. Power is never transient. An institution that is politicised today will eventually produce the negative results of its own ineffectiveness, and those responsible for creating it will themselves become its victims”.

Presenting TIB’s review of the draft legislation, he outlined 19 recommendations, saying that failure to incorporate them would demonstrate the government’s lack of authentic commitment to establishing an independent and effective National Human Rights Commission.

He added that if the government honoured the commitments made by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in its 31-point state reform agenda, election manifesto and July Charter, it would be feasible to establish an independent National Human Rights Commission free from government control.

Responding to a question during the discussion, the TIB executive director said that those in power or holding major positions in the government in Bangladesh often undermine state institutions for short-term political gain.

“Many countries have governments that are even more authoritarian and repressive, yet very few have such a record of politicising and rendering national institutions ineffective. This practice must change,” TIB executive director said.

Iftekharuzzaman also warned that “anti-reform forces” remained active within the government.
While such resistance could be political, he said, the bureaucracy was often an even more influential obstacle, adding that this was reflected in the draft Human Rights Commission law.