APF provides support for new Bangladesh HRC

The APF and the Commonwealth Secretariat recently visited Bangladesh to provide support for the country’s new Human Rights Commission, which was established by ordinance on 1 September.

Both the APF and the Commonwealth undertook a short joint mission from 30 August to 1 September to coincide with the enactment of the ordinance. The mission was sponsored by the United Kingdom High Commission in Bangladesh.

The enactment of the ordinance and the establishment of the Commission are very welcome developments. Bangladesh had been considering the establishment of a national human rights institution for well over a decade.

During the late 1990s the then Minister for Justice and senior officials of his department visited a number of national institutions in the region. Unfortunately the initiatives did not bear fruit at that time.

The Bangladesh ordinance provides for a six member selection committee to make recommendations to the President for appointments to the Commission. While in Dhaka, the representatives of the APF and the Commonwealth participated in a number of meetings to discuss the process and the criteria for the selection of members.

Meetings were held with the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, who will appoint a senior judge to chair the selection committee, as well as four members of the selection committee: the Auditor General and Comptroller, the Attorney General, the Law Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary, UN officials and members of non-government organisations.

The selection committee will be considering persons for appointment during September, with a view to making recommendations to the President as soon as possible. It is hoped that the new Commission will be constituted and operating before the end of October.

The ordinance establishing the Human Rights Commission was enacted by the current caretaker government of Bangladesh and needs to be ratified by the parliament once it is elected.

Elections are expected to take place in December 2008.