Dhaka to assess its pledges ahead of UN rights council election 

The government is assessing the implementation of the rights-related pledges it had made to the Human Rights Council as Dhaka will be contesting the election to the UN body for membership in October this year.   

Bangladesh in 2018 had accepted 178 pledges in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a mechanism of the council to assess the human rights situations in all United Nations Member States.

Dhaka wants to use the implementation updates in the UN body's election campaign, according to officials, while the implementation is also crucial for sending goods to foreign markets and maintaining smooth diplomatic ties with the West.   

By mentioning the updates "very crucial" for the campaign of next UN Human Rights Council election, the foreign ministry sought the information from 31 ministries and divisions, as an inter-ministerial meeting in this regard will be held today.          

Exports to the European Union after 2024 set down implementation of the UPR pledges including ensuring civil and political rights, checking rights violations by law enforcers, ensuring right to life and ensuring women's rights.

The UPR is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN member states. The ultimate aim of this mechanism is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and address human rights violations, wherever they occur.

Apart from the European Union, the United States pressed Bangladesh in the last Dhaka partnership dialogue for human rights protection, stopping extrajudicial killings and ensuring freedom of the media – which are among the UPR promises.   

"Bangladesh has announced its candidacy for the membership of the UN Human Rights Council for the term 2023-25, as the election will be held in October this year," says the foreign ministry in the letter.

"In this context, the updated information on the implementation of the recommendations accepted by the government at the end of the third Universal Periodic Review seems to be very important for the election campaign," added the letter.   

Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Korea, Maldives, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan have announced that they will run for the four member positions in the Asia-Pacific region in October. The 193 member states of the United Nations will vote on it.

The election for the 47-member rights council will be held in October for the 2023-25 term. The 193 member states of the United Nations will vote on it. Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Korea, the Maldives, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan will fight for the four member posts in the Asia-Pacific region.

In its third UPR in May 2018, UN member states proposed a total of 251 recommendations, of which the government accepted 178. Subsequently, the foreign ministry organised several workshops to assess the implementation.     

Of the 178 pledges, the highest number of 22 recommendations are on civil and political rights, human rights violations by law enforcing agencies and the right to life; followed by 21 recommendations on labour rights and 18 recommendations on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Other pledges include implementation of international human rights, economic, social and cultural right to education, right to health, right to security, rights of the human rights defenders, rights of the minorities and strengthening the National Human Rights Commission.

Foreign Ministry officials say it is possible to win the election despite pressure from the West on human rights issues. Bangladesh won the election as a member of the council in 2018 with the support of 177 countries amid concerns over the national election.  

They said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan may pull out of the election at the last moment. Besides, regional contesters often withdraw their candidacies after discussions among them.

South Korea, Bangladesh's rival in the Asia-Pacific region, has been a member of the council for five terms since 2006. On the other hand, Vietnam was elected in the 2014-2016 term with a record 184 votes out of 192.

The total membership of the UN Human Rights Council is 47. One-third of the council's seats go to polls every year. There are provisions for picking the members from five regional groups through elections from 15 to a maximum of 18 seats. Through elections, a country can serve as a member twice in a row – a total of 6 years.

Twice in a row, Bangladesh had been a member of the council till 2021. Dhaka is contesting the election after a gap in 2022.

The key condition for the election of the UN Human Rights Council is that the contesting state must secure an absolute majority of the votes by the 193 member states of the United Nations. In other words, if all the 193 member states of the United Nations are present at the vote, the candidate will have to get at least half, or 96, of the votes.

A total of 15 member states from the five regions will run for the 2023-25 ​​session in the October elections, as Russia lost its membership following allegations of human rights abuses in the Ukraine war.