Message from Full-Time Member We are very pleased to present Annual Report 2019 of the National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh as per Section 22 (1) of the NHRC Act 2009. This year, the Commission witnessed transition. The new Commission comprises of members with wide range of experience in human rights protection. We believe, with our experience we can better serve our nation for promotion and protection of human right. Bangladesh has ratified eight out of nine conventions on human rights indicating our respect to human rights. The Father of our nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman fought for human rights throughout his life. The preamble of our constitution states that the fundamental aim of the State is to realise through the democratic process a socialist society, free from exploitation- a society in which rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedom, equality and justice, political, economic and social, will be secured for all citizens. The National Human Rights Commission was established in 2009 to fulfill this aim by the present government. Throughout the year 2019, NHRC initiated lots of activities for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. As the new members, we decided to sit with the previous members to know the challenges they faced during their tenure and to know what their priorities were and what are the pending works we need to complete. Like previous years, this year too NHRC maintained its advisory role by recommending government on several human rights issues. Mention may be made to BUET student Abrar murder; gas cylinder blast in Mirpur. The trend of violence against women specially rape was a matter of concern around the world. Thus, NHRC raised concern and wrote to concerned authorities to take necessary action against this heinous crime. In this year, we launched e-File system for smooth operation of regular office works. We also decided to launch Integrated Office Management System and Online Complaint Management System. We believe, in this era of digitalization NHRC needs to adopt itself with modern technologies and make better use of it for smooth functioning. At this point, I would like to thank all the stakeholders of NHRC including state and non-state actors for their continuous support. Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed 10