Human Rights Support Society-HRSS has organized 10th National Human Rights Conference-2024 in Biswa Shahitto Kendra on 27th July 2024.
The day-long conference was divided into two parts. In the first phase, the current human rights situation in the country and the ongoing activities of the Human Rights Support Society were presented to the young human rights activists from different parts of the country. Besides, some young human rights activists presented their work experience in front of everyone.
In the second phase of the conference, chairperson of the Human Rights Support Society Barrister Shahzada Al Amin Kabir, the guests from different parts of the country including Journalists, academicians, poets, political analysts gave speeches.


In the second phase moderated by the program officer of the Human Rights Support Society Saneequdrat Saqee, Prominent journalist and poet Mahbub Morshed, said, ‘We try to highlight the various problems of the country through writing. The most talked about since this election is voting rights. This is also an important human right. As we do not have the right to vote, democracy exists only on paper. Human rights activists must work to ensure voting rights. Punishment without trial, imprisonment without charge, detention or torture are gross violations of human rights. There have been violations of human rights in this country during different governments. In our society there is a general ignorance about human rights, freedom etc. To overcome these situations, we all have to build a knowledge-based society.
Saifuddin Ahmad, Associate Professor of Dhaka University’s Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, said, ‘The fear in speaking one’s mind is the biggest crisis in Bangladesh now. Another crisis in the governance system of Bangladesh is the lack of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly. If there was freedom of expression, the current events would not have happened. Many instances of corruption are being exposed these days. When in power, why did their activities not come out? Because, everyone was pressurized by them. That is why the freedom of the press is very important. If it was present, the corrupt people would not have dared to commit corruption while in power.’
Abu Saeed Khan, a brave freedom fighter and the advisory editor of Daily Samakal, said, “Where there is no right to vote, there is no election, there are no other rights. Democracy never existed in this country. What exists is electocracy. Before, every five years the people would get an ownership. They thought themselves powerful. But that right has also been taken away. The state is embodied through its institutions. An image of a state is obtained through police, army, health, medical, and educational institution. But now the state is represented by Benazir-Aziz-Matiur. This is the face of the state. There are people who are patronizing them. The state is their protector. people have lost their rights. We could not speak when they were in power. Because there is a culture of fear at work among us. We must continue the struggle for the establishment of human rights and good governance. Everyone should always be vocal against the state management. This state belongs to everyone. To ensure everyone’s rights here, social justice is needed.
Human rights activist and chief advisor of Human Rights Support Society. Nur Khan said, ‘We are holding the conference at a time when the human rights situation in this country is very fragile. We have seen extrajudicial killings in crossfire, people in plain clothes abducting general public and torturing them, many people are being harassed and made to disappear. Many are victims of these crimes. Human rights activists have spoken even before the US imposed sanctions. Since then, there have been repeated demands for the formation of an independent commission. All these have come in the media. But the government did not take any significant steps.
Appealing to the Prime Minister in the current context, Noor Khan said, ‘Announce zero tolerance policy against corruption. Conduct a clean-up campaign.’ He also criticized the police association’s statement and said, ‘Through this, they took responsibility of personal faults conducted by some people.’
Former Director General of Anti-Corruption Commission, Maidul Islam, said, “The constitution states that the state will make arrangements so that no one can earn illegal income. But we see a different picture. In this year’s budget, black money has been given an opportunity to become white money by reducing the tax rate. Tax rate is higher for those who have white money. It is against the constitution.
Referring to the Anti-Corruption Commission, he said, “When a complaint is filed in the commission, it wastes a lot of time to search and investigate it.” Many criminals escape during this period. During my tenure, I wanted the commission to take immediate action if it had credible information. But it was not done.
During this day-long conference, brave freedom fighter Kamal Ahmed also delivered speech. Executive Director Ijajul Islam of human rights support society and human rights activists from different parts of the country were also present.