State-Controlled Human Rights Commission Is Self-Defeating, Warns TIB

Imposing an ineffective and government-controlled human rights commission on the public will ultimately prove self-defeating for the ruling regime, warned Dr Iftekharuzzaman, the Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). He observed that administrations failing to establish functional, independent state institutions inadvertently create a metaphorical “Frankenstein’s monster”. Political power is never permanent. Consequently, those who weaponise state bodies for partisan influence today invariably become the victims of that institutional dysfunction tomorrow.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman made these remarks on Thursday during an advocacy meeting hosted at the TIB office in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. The seminar, titled “Draft National Human Rights Commission Act 2026: Review and Recommendations by Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) and TIB”, focused on analyzing the proposed legislative framework.

Reviewing the draft legislation, the TIB chief presented 19 specific reform recommendations formulated jointly by the civil service organisations. He asserted that if the government rejects these structural proposals, it will demonstrate a clear lack of political will to foster a genuinely independent human rights watchdog. He referenced the broader political landscape, pointing out that the main political opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has pledged to implement a 31-point state reform agenda, alongside commitments in its election manifesto and the July Charter. Dr Iftekharuzzaman noted that fulfilling these pledges honestly would make a truly autonomous National Human Rights Commission achievable.

Answering questions from journalists at the event, the Executive Director criticised the historical tendencies of Bangladeshi ruling elites. He stated that individuals in power frequently dismantle vital state institutions for short-term political gains. Whilst authoritarian and autocratic regimes exist globally, very few nations exhibit such systemic partisan politicisation and complete neutralisation of national statutory bodies. This destructive cycle must change.

He also cautioned against active “anti-reform elements” operating within the state machinery. While some resistance originates from political factions, a more entrenched opposition stems from the bureaucracy. Dr Iftekharuzzaman concluded that the current restrictive drafting of the National Human Rights Commission Act heavily reflects this bureaucratic resistance to change, posing a significant hurdle to genuine institutional autonomy.