Human rights situation in Bangladesh in Geneva

Dhaka: The human rights situation in Bangladesh will be reviewed for the fourth time on Monday (November 13) under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The Ministry of Law said in a press release on Sunday (November 12) that this review will be held in Geneva, Switzerland at 3 pm Bangladesh time.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government is going to participate in the UPR process for the fourth consecutive time. A high-level delegation led by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Haque is in Geneva to attend the UPR meeting. Officials from various ministries of the government including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Ministry of Social Welfare and Secretary of the Ministry/Department of Chittagong Hill Tracts are in this delegation.

Under the leadership of Law Minister Anisul Haque, they will highlight the various steps taken by the government to improve the human rights situation in Bangladesh in the past four years and answer various questions raised in this regard.

The Universal Periodic Review is held every four years to review the human rights situation of UN member states. It reviews the human rights situation of the member states in the last four years. In the review, various member states ask questions and make recommendations to the state under review on various issues related to human rights.

Earlier, Bangladesh participated in the UPR for the first time in 2009, the second time in 2013 and the third time in 2018. This review was conducted mainly based on three reports. They are – the national report given by the government; Reports by national human rights commissions and national and international human rights organizations or coalitions of organizations and reports by the Office of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights.

Bangladesh Time: 1751 hours, November 12, 2023
MIH/HA/