Does no news mean bad news?

The Chairman and members of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Bangladesh has completed their tenure on July 22, 2016. They all have wrapped up and spent their last day at the office. However, we don't know anything yet about the new appointees, and - even at the minimum - about the steps taken or process initiated to select their successors.

According to the National Human Rights Commission Act, 2009 (the founding Act for the NHRC), a selection committee headed by the Speaker of the Parliament selects the NHRC members to be finally chosen and appointed by the President. Other members of the Committee are: the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Home Minister, Chairman of the Law Commission, Cabinet Secretary and two lawmakers (one of them from the opposition party) chosen by the Speaker. 

Unfortunately, neither the law has a provision to include members of the civil society in the selection committee nor has the selection committee practiced any formal process to consult with the civil society in previous occasions. The international standard on national human rights institutions, known as the 'Paris Principles', emphasise on the representation of civil society members in the selection committee. 

This is what the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions (ICC), the global body under the mandate of the United Nations, which accredits national human rights institutions, also noted when it ranked NHRC, Bangladesh, as a 'B' category institution - first in 2010 and retained the same status when they reaccredited in 2015. It observed that "the NHRC, Bangladesh could not be conferred 'A' status as the government's control over the Selection Committee was obvious and it had no representation of the Civil Society."    

Apart from the selection committee, the Paris Principles also provide guidelines for the selection process, which states: 

"It is critically important to ensure the formalisation of a clear, transparent and participatory selection and appointment process of the National Human Rights Institution's decision-making body in relevant legislation, regulations or binding administrative guidelines, as appropriate.  A process that promotes merit-based selection and ensures pluralism is necessary to ensure the independence of, and public confidence in, the senior leadership of a National Institution. Such a process should include requirements to:

a) Publicise vacancies broadly; 

b) Maximise the number of potential candidates from a wide range of societal groups; 

c) Promote broad consultation and/or participation in the application, screening, selection and appointment process 

d) Assess applicants on the basis of pre-determined, objective and publicly available criteria; 

e) Select members to serve in their own individual capacity rather than on behalf of the organisation they represent."

According to the founding law, the selection committee is supposed to propose two candidates for each position, and the President would finally appoint one among them. During the previous selection of the commission members, we were kept in the dark about which candidates the selection committee had considered, why they were considered, and also the names recommended to the President. We only came to know about that after the final appointments were made. 

We were hoping for some changes in the law, or minimum in the practice. Before the reaccreditation process, in 2015, the NHRC themselves made a proposal to the government to increase the number of the selection committee members, including the provision of civil society inclusion in the selection committee. However, we did not see any progress to that end. Furthermore, to our utter dismay, the selection process seems delayed, thereby currently putting the NHRC in Bangladesh, in a vacuum without its chairperson and members.

Civil society members have urged time and again to start the selection process well ahead of the time and called for initiating an open and transparent process for that. The delay in appointing new chairperson and members will certainly weaken the institution and may be seen as the government's lack of willingness to make the NHRC an effective and functional institution.

The writer is a human rights defender.