Govt firm to protect human rights, freedom of people: Dipu Moni*****

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni Sunday said the government respects fundamental rights of all and is firm to protect human rights and freedom of the people, reports UNB. She said the government will continue to extend every possible support to make Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) independent, accountable and an institution of truly international standard. She made the affirmation during a joint call on by ambassadors of three European countries - Norway, Switzerland and Sweden - at the Foreign Ministry Sunday. The three ambassadors called on the Foreign Minister to reaffirm their support to the government's initiatives to strengthen the institutional capacity of the NHRC and accreditation of National Human Rights Institutions during the meeting in Geneva later this month. During the discussion the Foreign Minister informed the ambassadors about various measures undertaken by the government including 'National Human Rights Act-2009' and sanction of full strength of manpower for making the NHRC politically, financially and institutionally independent. The three ambassadors praised Bangladesh for its strong credential and positive global profiles on human rights council and expressed their countries' interest to work closely with Bangladesh in strengthening global human rights standards. Bangladesh is a member of the 47-member UN Human Rights Council for the last two terms ending in 2012.