ANNUAL REPORT 2011
obligations. Moreover, there are numerous
international human rights treaties and
covenants which Bangladesh has yet to
approve or ratify. Human rights awareness is
lacking among the wide majority of the
public, and knowledge and sensitivity to
human rights issues within government
agencies remains extremely limited. In
February 2009, the first Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) of Bangladesh’s human rights
record highlighted a number of critical areas
of human rights violations in Bangladesh,
including extra-judicial killings by law
enforcement agencies; custodial death and
torture with impunity; discrimination and
violence against women; discrimination
against indigenous peoples and religious
minorities; child labour and early marriage;
and disregard for the rights of prisoners. In
this context, an independent human rights
institution with sole responsibility of
promoting and protecting human rights has
been a long term objective of many groups. As
previously explained, the NHRC was formally
established in December 2008 with the
appointment of three Commissioners, with
the current Commission comprising a total of
seven members, each serving three-year
terms (2010-13). In accordance with its
official mandate, the NHRC serves as the
major national human rights watchdog,
monitoring implementation of state
obligations to respect and protect the rights
of every single member of society. The
institution is charged with addressing specific
human rights complaints through
investigation, mediation and conciliation, and
where necessary, through constitutional
litigation, and more broadly through raising
public awareness. It also has a vital role to play
in ensuring consistency of laws and policies
with international standards.
During 2011, the NHRC began to add staff
through its own direct recruitment, following
the approval of a 28-person organogram in
the second half of the year. These staff
members, along with the governmentseconded directors and deputy directors,
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comprise the personnel the NHRC currently
has to build the necessary technical capacity
required to act effectively as a watchdog and
engage in targeted activities to protect and
promote human rights.
In response to the Commission’s need for
foundational support, on May 6, 2010, the
NHRC joined with development partners and
the Government of Bangladesh to initiate a
five-year capacity development project. The
Bangladesh National Human Rights
Commission Capacity Development Project
(BNHRC-CDP) was created to support the
establishment and growth of the Commission
into a strong institution capable of fulfilling its
statutory mandate. During 2011, the NHRC
continued to collaborate closely with the
BNHRC-CDP during the first full year of the
project’s activities, carrying out activities in
the four major areas described above
according to a jointly-developed annual work
plan (AWP).
One of the most important NHRC activities
during 2011 was conducting a national survey
of Bangladeshi peoples’ attitudes and
perceptions of human rights. The summary
report of findings, “Perceptions, Attitudes
and Understanding: A baseline survey on
human rights in Bangladesh” was published
by the Commission in December 2011. The
purpose of the survey was to learn what
people across the country think, know and
understand about human rights, and to
determine what they see as their most
important rights issues facing Bangladesh.
Survey participants were asked about where
people go, and why, when seeking redress for
human rights violations, and their level of
satisfaction with the services provided. The
NHRC was also interested in finding out the
general level of awareness about the
Commission itself.
The baseline surveyed revealed very
interesting and important information for
human rights institutions such as the NHRC,
human rights defenders and activists, the