Opposition alliance boycotts process of passing Human Rights Commission Bill

The opposition alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami has announced a boycott of the entire process of passing the National Human Rights Commission Bill.

They have accused the government of moving forward with the bill “unilaterally” while ignoring the opinions of political parties, human rights organisations, and other stakeholders.

Members of the opposition boycotted the discussion on the National Human Rights Commission Bill at the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in parliament on Sunday. 

However, they participated in the discussion on the “Transfer of Property (Amendment) Bill” in the same meeting.

Jamaat-e-Islami's parliamentary spokesperson Mohammad Nazibur Rahman spoke to reporters in the tunnel of the parliament after leaving the meeting. 

He said, "The opposition party will not participate in the next proceedings in parliament on the National Human Rights Commission Bill.

"Initiatives were taken to reform human rights laws during the interim government. Although the law was supposed to be strengthened, the current bill is not in line with international conventions."

He alleged that instead of strengthening the previous law, the proposed bill has made provisions to further weaken the National Human Rights Commission. 

The parliamentary standing committee's opportunity to express its opinion independently has also been limited, he alleged.

Criticising this, Nazibur said: "The parliamentary standing committee has bundled up the bill before it is introduced in parliament. It has been asked to submit a report on the bill within just two days. This does not give the committee members the opportunity to express their opinions independently.

"The parliamentary committee has been turned into a rubber stamp. Because of this, we cannot stay here and we are forced to boycott this meeting."

Terming the proposed law as “controversial” and a “black law”, the Jamaat MP said: "Although it talks about protecting human rights, if the law-enforcing agencies violate it, it makes no place for the protection of the people here. Due to this, we do not want to be associated with this black law, any process involved in this law, any process involved in passing this law. We do not want to take any responsibility for it."

The National Human Rights Commission Act was first enacted in 2009. During the interim government, the law was amended and a new ordinance was added. The 13th Parliament repealed that ordinance and reinstated the 2009 law.

Then, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman introduced the new National Human Rights Commission Bill, 2026 in parliament last Thursday, repealing the 2009 law.

The bill was sent to the Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for scrutiny, requesting a report’s submission within two working days. The opposition party says this amounts to “tying up” the parliamentary committee.

Nazibur said, “In the past, we have seen that when two members of our ruling party tried to express their own independent opinions in the committee, they gave notes of dissent. They were then called from the highest level of the government and asked to withdraw these notes of dissent. We believe this is a process of parliamentary fascism.

“The committees should have been given the opportunity to express their opinions freely. We do not think that turning this into a rubber stamp is good for democracy. We believe that this is opening the way to fascism.”

Meanwhile, a media statement from the Parliament Secretariat said that the meeting discussed the “Transfer of Property (Amendment) Bill 2026” and the “National Human Rights Commission Bill, 2026” in detail. The meeting reviewed and examined both bills and recommended their passage in the parliament in revised form.