Members of Bangladesh human rights body resign over govt inaction

All five members of Bangladesh's autonomous human rights commission resigned on Monday in protest over the newly elected government's failure to renew beefed up authorities for the body.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) members said the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), which won a landslide in February elections, has failed to introduce bills on key rights-related issues during the first session of the new parliament.

The elections were the first since a student-led uprising in 2024 toppled long-ruling autocrat Sheikh Hasina, with an interim government subsequently led by 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

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During his tenure, Yunus introduced many key rights-related ordinances, including one granting strengthened authorities to the NHRC.

"We were appointed under the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025 (but) the government has neither asked us to step down nor enacted the ordinance," outgoing member Noor Khan told AFP.

That has led the NHRC to revert to operating under a 2009 law passed under Hasina, which was seen as largely ineffective in addressing human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances.

"As the relevant ordinances were not tabled, victims have repeatedly asked, 'What will happen to us?'," the resigning members said in an open letter.  

"It is from that liability -- not any institutional or personal interest -- that we issue this letter," it added.

Khan said the reinstatement of the old law would render the commission "ineffective", and that it "will lose the authority to investigate abuses by security agencies".

But key ministers in the new government -- Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Law Minister Asaduzzaman -- on Sunday said that the lapsed ordinances would be reviewed and tabled again.

Asaduzzaman told parliament earlier this month that repealing ordinances was necessary to avoid legal conflicts and they'd introduce "more contemporary, welfare-oriented, and effective framework for ensuring justice".