NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Government of Bangladesh, and of course, for
the people. More than half of those surveyed
had never heard of “human rights”, with
those who had heard of it much more likely to
be from an urban area, male, educated or
among the least poor. But when asked to
identify what “human rights” means, those
familiar with the term showed a fairly good
understanding of them as basic rights
accorded to all people from birth and relating
to personal freedoms. Even so, nearly 1 out of
5 people who had heard of “human rights”
could not describe what the term means.
When asked which human rights people
should have, most respondents recognised
the right to life as the primary human right,
along with key civil and political rights, such as
equality and freedom from discrimination,
personal freedoms and freedom of
expression. There was also recognition of
socio-economic rights and access to services.
Those who had previously heard of human
rights were also generally aware that knowing
your rights is the most effective way to claim
them.
But another troubling statistic revealed that
more than half the people surveyed were
either not aware or did not believe that
human rights, or at least some of them, are
legally protected and enforceable in
Bangladesh Since people can only claim and
defend their rights when they know and
understand that they can be enforced by law,
the lack of understanding around legal
protection of rights is problematic, and
something the NHRC is committed to
addressing through its countrywide
awareness campaigns which began in 2011.
The survey also inquired about the link
between human rights and the responsibility
to respect the law and the rights of others.
Respondents generally were aware that rights
and obligations are closely connected,
particularly the duty to know and abide by the
law. However, nearly a quarter to a third of
survey participants did not know about this
connection, indicating that public awareness
campaigns must communicate that human
rights create corresponding obligations.
Another aspect of the survey focused on
where to go for redress of a human rights
violation. When asked what they would do if
the government violated their rights, a wide
majority of survey participants said they
would take some form of individual or
collective action, rather than look to someone
else to protect or defend their rights. But only
about one percent said they would report a
violation to police, and even less would report
it to a lawyer or the NHRC.
The responses to the baseline survey show
that the people of Bangladesh have an innate
understanding of how democracy works,
especially in regards to the potential impact
of citizen mobilisation and articulation of
concerns. Though less than half of
respondents knew or had heard of the
technical term “human rights”, this does not
necessarily mean Bangladeshis do not
understand the concept of having certain
rights and being able to demand them.
Instead, the responses indicated that people
need to know more about other means to
advocate for their rights and deal with
violations. The NHRC recognizes this lack of
awareness of human rights as legally
enforceable and has been focusing its efforts
since 2011 on enhancing rights awareness
and its own role in promoting and protecting
those fundamental guarantees.
In analyzing the survey outcomes, the
Commission has been able to assess the
strengths and weaknesses of the legal and
policy framework for human rights protection
in the country. The NHRC also received
recommendations regarding how
stakeholders and other interested actors can
support the Commission in its quest to
improve dramatically the basic rights
situation in Bangladesh. The baseline that has
been established as a result of the survey will
be used by the Commission as a
measurement against which to evaluate the
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