JAMAKON Report to the UN Human Rights Committee
Executive summary
Bangladesh has acceded to the International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights,
1966 (ICCPR) in 2000 and as a result, Bangladesh entails an obligation to submit regular
reports to the Human Rights Committee. As a part of this obligation, the Government of
Bangladesh has submitted initial report to the Human Rights Committee under article 40
of the ICCPR, 1966 on 19 June 2015. This report prepared by the National Human Rights
Commission, Bangladesh (NHRC) (which also goes by the name ‘JAMAKON’ in
Bangladesh) aims at analysis of implementation status of ICCPR in Bangladesh looking
at the most relevant articles and critical assessment of the existing situation of enjoyment
of civil and political rights in Bangladesh. It identifies gaps and main barriers in
implementation of ICCPR in Bangladesh. It also highlights concerns and challenges in
implementation of civil and political rights in Bangladesh. Some of the key challenges in
implementation of the ICCPR include: inadequate legal framework, administrative
practices such as remand, torture and extra-judicial killing, unreasonable restrictions on
some rights and conflicting laws. Key institutions such as judiciary, law-enforcing
agencies and prison system needs reforms and orientation towards realization and respect
for civil and political rights. Domestic legal framework of Bangladesh is not fully
compatible with the norms of the ICCPR. Although most of the civil and political rights
under the ICCPR have been guaranteed in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of
Bangladesh as fundamental rights, Bangladesh made some reservations and declaration to
the ICCPR to limit the application of ICCPR. Finally, this report makes recommendations
for effective implementation of the ICCPR in Bangladesh.
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