Dhaka, Dec. 13 -- Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has claimed that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ordinance is being "held hostage by a bureaucratic takeover".

In a media statement on Saturday, the local chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International, a global anti-corruption organisation, criticised the bureaucracy, saying a window to form an independent, effective human rights commission free from government influence has now been effectively "destroyed".

The TIB described the inclusion of the cabinet secretary in the commission's selection committee, without keeping stakeholders involved in the ordinance-making process informed, as "a clear example of the authoritarian practices of reform-resistant bureau...