Launching its special campaign during the presidency of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, beginning on 8 September 2026, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), a NGO with Special Consultative Status with the UN, today stated that, although Dr Rahman identified peace and security and human rights as his priorities before his election as President, the Government of Bangladesh reconstituted the Bandarban Hill District Council, Khagrachari Hill District Council and Rangamati Hill District Council without elections on 20 August 2026.
“Before leaving for New York on 30 August 2026 to preside the 61st session of the UNGA, Dr Rahman’s own government murdered democracy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. This is not a positive sign for the world as far as the outcomes of the UNGA are concerned. ” – stated Mr Tejang Chakma, Research Director of ACHR.
ACHR also stated that UNGA President Dr Rahman has also failed on “peace and security” in his own country. The much-vaunted Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997 has become a dead letter. Instead of demilitarising the CHT as required under the Accord, the Government of Bangladesh has started building infrastructure for a new cantonment in Naikhongchhari under Bandarban district, including marking the site for the proposed cantonment. On 25 August 2026, Defense Advisor Brigadier General Dr AKM Shamshul Islam and Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Mir Mushfiqur Rahman visited Bhagban Tilla Outpost under Khagrachari district and Udaypur Outpost under Rangamati district to explore the possibilities of establishing new brigade headquarters for the Border Guards Bangladesh.
The implantation of about 400,000 Muslim settlers in the CHT from 1979 to 1983 was carried out through land grabbing. About 22,000 complaints of land grabbing were filed by indigenous peoples with the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission, but not a single dispute had been resolved as of the date of this press release. For the last one year, no meeting of the Land Commission has taken place. Consequently, about 43,000 indigenous refugees who returned from India after the signing of the CHT Accord have also been unable to regain their lands. Instead, 25,997 Muslim settler families living in cluster villages are being provided with free rations.
The Government of Bangladesh has also refused to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms regarding violations of the rights of indigenous peoples. It refused to respond to a letter from nine UN Special Rapporteurs dated 24 September 2025 concerning the alleged grabbing of about 1,000 acres of land by the Army Welfare Trust and the Sikder Group in Chimbuk, Bandarban district, CHT, which is expected to affect at least 150 indigenous Mro families. It also failed to respond to a letter from seven UN Special Rapporteurs concerning the killing of three indigenous peoples on 28 September 2025 at Guimara under Khagrachari district.
The Asian Centre for Human Rights has urged members of the UNGA to intervene with the Government of Bangladesh hold elections in the three Hill District Councils and the CHT Regional Council or withhold development cooperation projects with the Government of Bangladesh and these local government bodies in the CHT if no elections are held. ACHR also urged for full implementation of the CHT Accord and accountability for human rights violations.