Three parliamentary acts passed in September 2026 by Bangladesh’s newly elected government have rolled back critical human rights protections and dismantled reforms introduced during the interim administration, according to Human Rights Watch. The legislation curbs the independence of the National Human Rights Commission, alters criminal liability standards for enforced disappearances, and replaces a notorious paramilitary force with a rebranded unit that lacks basic oversight safeguards.
The legislative push follows elections earlier this year that brought Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party to power. Between August 2024 and February 2026, an interim government governed the country, establishing ordinances aimed at curbing historical abuses such as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances carried out by state security agencies under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
National Human Rights Commission Loses Investigative Powers
Under the Awami League administration led by Hasina from 2009 to 2024, the National Human Rights Commission operated without institutional independence, lacking the authority to directly investigate allegations against law enforcement. The interim government subsequently issued ordinances granting the commission powers to probe security agencies, establish independent funding, and inspect detention facilities through a National Preventive Mechanism required under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Those interim ordinances required legislative confirmation after the February 2026 election. Instead of ratifying them, the Rahman administration allowed the measures to lapse.
On September 6, parliament passed a new law on the human rights body following a walkout by opposition legislators. According to Human Rights Watch, the legislation strips the commission of its authority to directly investigate rights violations committed by security forces, restricting it to requesting reports from accused agencies. The statute also restores government control over commissioner appointments, curtails budgetary independence, and downgrades the National Preventive Mechanism, falling short of international Paris Principles standards.
Changes to Enforced Disappearance and Command Accountability
Alongside the human rights commission legislation, parliament adopted the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Act on September 6. The statute replaces interim reforms by shifting investigative authority over disappearances away from the human rights commission to a government-designated security agency separate from the one implicated in the abuse.
The new act also removes commission powers to monitor and inspect secret detention facilities. Additionally, the legal threshold for command responsibility—previously aligned with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to hold commanders accountable for violations they should have known about and prevented—has been narrowed. Prosecutors must now present evidence of direct orders to secure a conviction against a commanding officer.
Paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion Renamed as Special Response Battalion
On September 10, parliament enacted the Special Response Battalion Act, officially abolishing the Rapid Action Battalion. The paramilitary unit had faced extensive international condemnation, including targeted United States sanctions against seven former senior officers over documented extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances. Several former RAB members are currently on trial at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity.
Despite previous calls by the ruling BNP for the force’s dissolution, the new legislation transfers all personnel, records, property, and operational powers to the newly formed Special Response Battalion, which commenced operations on September 16. The unit retained its previous logo, substituting only the acronym letters.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed suggested in May that renaming the unit might prompt the United States to reconsider its sanctions. However, human rights experts have noted that the legislation establishing the SRB contains no new provisions for training, external oversight, or human rights vetting.
International partners, including the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, face mounting pressure from human rights organizations to maintain sanctions on the rebranded unit and press Dhaka for genuine security sector reform.
“Tarique Rahman came to office promising reform, after protesters risked their lives to overthrow a government that had committed widespread and severe rights violations,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is deeply alarming to see the new government so quickly following in the abusive footsteps of Sheikh Hasina, because we have seen where this can lead.”
