HR commission won’t ensure rights protection, experts fear

The National Human Rights Commission Bill, likely to be passed by the parliament today, will not ensure the protection of human rights as it will not empower the commission to take any action against perpetrators of right violations, said experts and rights activists.
The bill will rather ensure the establishment of a commission subservient to the government, they said.
The parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry on Tuesday placed its report in Jatiya Sangsad on the bill moved by the law minister, Shafique Ahmed, on March 2 proposing the enactment of a law on the human rights commission making almost similar provisions made in the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2007, promulgated by the immediate-past military-controlled interim government on December 23, 2007.
The committee made some changes in the bill including the provisions on selection committee to recommend people for appointment in the commission, formation of the commission and investigation of alleged violation of rights.
If enacted, the bill will not ensure establishment of rights of the people, it will rather establish a commission subservient to the government, politicising the commission, observed rights expert Farhad Mazhar, Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik, also a rights activist, rights organisation Odhikar’s general secretary Adilur Rahman Khan, also a Supreme Court lawyer, and Neeti Gobeshona Kendro’s director Mahbubul Haque Ripon, also a rights activist.
According to the bill, the chairman and not more than six members will be appointed in the commission in accordance with the recommendations made by the seven-member selection committee, headed by the parliament speaker.
The experts said the selection committee would politicise the commission as four members on the committee will make a quorum and four of its seven members are high-profile politicians of the ruling party — the speaker, law minister, home minister and a ruling party lawmaker nominated by the speaker.
Three other members are the Law Commission chairman, cabinet secretary and an opposition lawmaker nominated by the speaker.
The ordinance had made a selection panel, headed by a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, and with the attorney general, comptroller and auditor general, Public Service Commission chairman, cabinet secretary and law secretary.
   The selection committee, however, will need to recommend two persons for each of the posts in the commission and the president will appoint anyone from the panel of two.
The provision will allow the government to make the final selection to the commission as the president needs to act in consultation with the prime minister, said Farhad, Shahdeen, Adilur and Mahbubul.
At least unanimous recommendations of the committee should be made mandatory for the president, they observed.
‘The interim regime made provisions to establish a subservient commission through a selection committee dominated by political appointees and bureaucrats and the elected government is also doing the same thing through a selection committee dominated by ruling party politicians,’ Farhad said.
According to the bill, the selection committee will choose people on its own. The experts said there should be provisions for inviting applications from the aspirants through advertisement so that the process could be more transparent.
Shahdeen also questioned the continuation of the services of the current chairman and two members of the commission, appointed by the interim regime in September 2008.
The bill says the acts done and measures taken under the ordinance will be considered done or taken in accordance with the bill.
With full respect to the incumbents in the commission, one can question their appointments as the appointments were made without following any transparent procedure during the interim regime, Farhad and Shahdeen said.
According to the bill, the commission can get funds only from the government’s annual grants and grants by local authorities.
The experts said the provisions would allow the commission to be guided by the government as it would be dependent on government grants for its functioning.
Although the bill allows the commission to take grants from local authorities, the bill does not define the local authorities, the experts said.
All of the experts also said the enactment of the bill would eventually frustrate the people’s struggle for the establishment of a human rights commission to protect their rights.
According to the bill, if its inquiry reveals any infringement on human rights, the commission may resolve the issue through arbitration.
Such a provision will eventually prevent trials of the perpetrators of rights violations as they will be able to evade courts, observed the experts.
The bill empowers the commission to investigate any incident of rights violation and recommend redresses to the government and the authorities concerned.
It can also make such recommendations if arbitration fails to resolve the issue. It can ask the authorities concerned to inform it of the actions taken in line with the recommendations.
According to the bill, if the authorities concerned fail to go by the recommendations, or the action taken by the authorities is not considered to be appropriate according to the commission, it can refer the matter to the president who will take steps for the submission of the matter in the parliament.
The experts, referring to the provisions, observed these provisions could not ensure the protection of human rights as the president needs to act at the advice of the prime minister.
As the opposition is absent from the session, the government should go for public opinions and a public debate on the issues before the passage of the bill, the experts observed.

Courtesy of NewAgebd