Law Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul on Saturday said upholding human rights in Bangladesh is not possible without addressing the longstanding issues within the three key organs of the state -- the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

“We must fix the state’s three main pillars. Without doing so, there is no way to ensure human rights. We have to touch the core issues. That’s where we are trying to bring change,” he said while speaking at the 11th Human Rights Conference held at Dhaka University’s Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium.

Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) organised the conference.

Referring to the country’s democratic journey, Dr Nazrul said Bangladesh witnessed relatively fair elections and peaceful transfers of power from 1991 to 2012–13, which allowed for a certain degree of democratic progress. “Even in 2013, during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, opposition candidates won several mayoral elections …there was still some transparency,” he said.

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Emphasising a measured approach to reform, he said, “Transformation won’t come overnight. But we must steadily move forward through better elections, administrative and legal reforms, and by building a culture of human rights.”

Presided over by HRSS Chairperson Shahzada Al Amin, the conference was addressed, among others, by human rights activist and HRSS Chief Adviser Md Nur Khan; Senior Human Rights Adviser at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Bangladesh Huma Khan, and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Dhaka University Prof Mohammad Ekramul Haque.