National HR Commission launched

The government yesterday set up the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which would investigate human rights violations and advise the government on the enforcement of international human rights covenants.
The law ministry yesterday issued a gazette notification bringing the NHRC into effect. The NHRC will have a chairman and two members. One of the three will be a serving or retired Supreme Court judge.
The President, based on recommendations by a six-member selection committee, would choose the members and the chairman who has to be between 50 and 72 years old. They will serve three-year terms with a maximum of two terms.
The President will also choose a judge from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to chair the selection committee. The other members of the committee would be the cabinet secretary, the attorney general, comptroller and auditor general, Public Service Commission chairman and the law secretary.
The NHRC will investigate reports or complaints of human rights violations, negligence of human rights, and maintain the standards of prisons or correction facilities. It will mediate between disputing parties if necessary.
The commission will also review the constitution and the legal system to find human rights violation loopholes and if necessary suggest improvements to the government.
The NHRC will also research and set out the implementation of international human rights covenants and whether local laws are consistent with international human rights agreements.
All human rights NGOs and their operations will also be coordinated by the NHRC.
The commission, however, will not deal with matters regarding to the Ombudsman Act or to the jobs of any government employees working with tribunals set up under the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1980 and employees of constitutional bodies.
The commission was approved in principal by the cabinet last December after years of delay under the BNP-led coalition government.