Powerless Human Rights Panel not needed: Debapriya

He made the remark on Saturday while speaking at a discussion titled 'Draft Human Rights Commission Act 2025' organised by the Citizens’ Platform.

Debapriya said the initiative to form a national human rights commission was first taken during the Fakhruddin-led caretaker government in 2007, and by 2009 a draft law was prepared to set the roadmap. 

Later, the Awami League government changed the draft at will and established the commission through parliament, but it turned out to be ineffective, he said 

“A spineless good man was appointed as the commission’s head. No matter how good a person is, if he has no backbone, he cannot run a human rights commission,” Debapriya said.

He pointed out that although the interim government abolished the commission in November 2024, it has failed to come up with an alternative in nearly a year. The draft law prepared during this time, he added, is riddled with problems.

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua said the draft carries many of the flaws of the previous commission law.

“There is no clear provision on how long the commission should take to dispose of complaints. It is also unclear whether a person with dual citizenship can become a member of the commission. The draft also lacks clarity on funding—whether allocations will come directly from the national budget or otherwise,” he said.

He said the previous law allowed government bureaucrats to be part of the commission, creating a clear conflict of interest, and there is still no clarity on whether that practice will continue.

Sharing her experience, Sanjida Islam, coordinator of Mayer Daak—an organisation of families of enforced disappearance victims—said, “Whenever we went to the commission, all it did was send letters to the Home Ministry and consider its duty done. Beyond that, it took no action.”

Echoing her, Debapriya added that the commission used to report 100 percent task completion every year, while in reality its activities only meant sending letters to ministries.

Human rights activists from different sectors, as well as UN and foreign representatives, also joined the discussion and shared their views, reports UNB.