Cabinet okays law to form National HR Commission

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The council of advisers yesterday approved the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2007, a day before World Human Rights Day today.

The cabinet, at its weekly meeting, approved the ordinance to set up the long-awaited National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which can investigate human rights violations but is empowered to only settle issues or refer them to the court.

The NHRC will comprise a chairman and two members, handpicked by a six-member selection committee. The list of names will then be passed on to the President for final approval, the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim told a press briefing yesterday.

The NHRC chair and members would have to be between the ages of 50 and 72 and would be selected from among eminent personalities who have made a contribution to social welfare, law and human rights in the country.

At least one of them is likely to be a retired Supreme Court judge.

The chairman’s term can be no longer than three years and his tenure cannot extend beyond two terms.

The six-member selection committee would consist of an appellate division judge - chosen by the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the cabinet secretary, attorney general, comptroller and auditor general, public service commission chair, and the law secretary.

The NHRC would be empowered to investigate particular human rights violation allegations brought forward by citizens or discovered through their own monitoring.

If a human rights violation has been proved, the NHRC can either settle the matter or pass it on to the court or relevant authorities.

The NHRC draft had been sitting with the state for 12 years. The then Awami League government commissioned an assessment for the Commission.

In the meantime several drafts have been discussed and approved in principle by the cabinet, the latest of which was by the present government on September 8, 2007.

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