Three laws passed by parliament this month have weakened human rights safeguards in Bangladesh and reversed reforms introduced by the interim government, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

The rights watchdog said the laws concerning the National Human Rights Commission, enforced disappearances and the Special Response Battalion have removed or weakened safeguards intended to prevent a return to abuses such as enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

But the BNP government allowed the NHRC ordinance to lapse and subsequently passed new legislation that, according to HRW, reduced the commission’s independence and investigative powers.

Parliament passed the new NHRC law on September 6 following a walkout by opposition lawmakers, HRW said.

Under the law, the NHRC cannot directly investigate alleged rights violations by security forces. It can request a report from the agency accused of the violation, although a provision appears to allow the commission to conduct its own inquiry if the agency fails to respond or its report is considered unsatisfactory.

The law also restores greater government control over the appointment of commissioners and reduces the commission’s budgetary and administrative independence, HRW said.

The rights organisation said the new law does not appear to meet the Paris Principles, the international standards governing national human rights institutions, particularly in terms of investigative powers, political independence and adequate resources.

Also on September 6, the parliament passed the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Act, which HRW said reversed several safeguards contained in the interim government’s ordinance.

Under the new law, allegations of enforced disappearance will be investigated by a security agency appointed by the government rather than by the NHRC.

The new law also removes the commission’s previous authority to monitor, inspect and investigate detention facilities, including facilities suspected of being used for secret detention.

HRW also criticised a change in the standard for command responsibility in enforced disappearance cases.

Previously based on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the standard could hold commanders responsible for violations they should have known about and prevented.

The new law requires evidence that the commander directly ordered the detention for responsibility to be established, according to HRW.

The third law, passed on September 10, provides for the abolition of the Rapid Action Battalion and the creation of the Special Response Battalion.

HRW said the new force effectively retains RAB’s structure, personnel and assets while providing inadequate safeguards.

The SRB began operating on September 16, with RAB personnel, powers, property and records transferred to the new force. Even its logo remains largely unchanged, with the letters RAB replaced by SRB, HRW said.

Parliament passed the SRB legislation despite objections from opposition lawmakers, who had warned that the new force could become a continuation of RAB under another name.

RAB has faced longstanding allegations of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture and remains under US sanctions over serious human rights abuses.

HRW urged Bangladesh’s international partners to press the government to ensure that rules governing the SRB include rigorous human rights vetting, independent external oversight, safeguards for arrest and detention, preservation of RAB records and evidence, and an end to the routine deployment of military personnel for civilian law enforcement.

It also called on the United States to maintain sanctions on the renamed entity until adequate measures are in place to ensure respect for human rights and accountability for past violations.

HRW urged the European Union and the United Kingdom to express concern over what it described as the emerging human rights record and policies of the new government.

‘Tarique Rahman came to office promising reform,’ Pearson said, adding that the government should not repeat the practices associated with the previous administration.