The Rights and Risk Analysis Group (RRAG) today urged the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) to suspend the membership of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Bangladesh after the Commission’s members were forced to resign on 7 November 2024, effectively dissolving the body.
The NHRC of Bangladesh had released its October 2024 monthly report only days before, on 5 November, highlighting a concerning increase in crimes such as mob beatings, rape, political harassment, and assaults on political leaders. The report’s findings sparked controversy, leading to the abrupt resignation of Chairman Kamal Uddin Ahmed and members Md Salim Reza, Aminul Islam, Kongjari Chowdhury, Biswajit Chanda, and Tania Haque.
Suhas Chakma, Director of the RRAG, condemned the resignations as a reaction to the NHRC’s factual reporting, arguing that the interim government had created “an absolutely untenable situation wherein all members of the NHRC were forced to resign.” He equated this action to the Taliban’s dissolution of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, a move GANHRI had similarly condemned. “This also means no independent appointments can be made to the Commission in the future, undermining any institutional accountability for human rights violations,” Chakma stated.
Chakma cited an alarming lack of protection for Bangladesh’s judiciary under the current interim government, noting the resignation of Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five Supreme Court judges following mob intimidation in August, and the removal of 12 High Court judges from their posts in October after the High Court premises were besieged by protesters. “If the judges are not safe under the Interim Government, there can be no safety for members of the NHRC of Bangladesh,” he added.
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The RRAG has expressed concern that the NHRC’s dissolution leaves vulnerable populations—including women, children, indigenous peoples, and religious minorities—without any form of institutional protection, potentially exposing them to unchecked human rights abuses. Without an independent human rights commission, victims are now “left to the mercy of the ruling mob,” the RRAG warned.
Drawing comparisons to past GANHRI actions, the RRAG urged GANHRI to suspend Bangladesh’s NHRC, as it had previously done with Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission in 2022 and, more recently, with the human rights commissions of Myanmar, Niger, and the Russian Federation in 2023.
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