Hill Voice, 26 September 2026, International Desk: Four International Rights Groups that include Minority Rights Group (MRG), International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC), FIAN International and International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) have demanded to the Human Rights Council and relevant Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations to fully implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord (CHT Accord) of 1997.
This demand was made by Stefania Carrer on behalf of 4 International Rights Organizations while she was delivering statement during 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on agenda ‘Item 3: General Debate’ on 18th September 2025.
Stefania Carrer said in her statement that the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples is presenting to the Council a report on the recognition of Indigenous Peoples. We draw urgent attention to the systematic and long-standing discrimination faced by the Indigenous Jumma Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Since the country’s independence, successive governments have pursued policies aimed at forcibly assimilating Indigenous communities into the dominant Bengali-Muslim identity.
This includes the constitutional imposition of a singular ‘Bengali’ national identity, denial of Indigenous status, and suppression of Indigenous their languages, cultures, and religious practices. The state continues to prohibit use of the term Adivasi, denying Indigenous Peoples the right to self-identification.
The situation is exacerbated by military-backed settlement programs that have displaced Indigenous communities. Indigenous lands are being seized for militarization, tourism, and religious infrastructure, without free, prior and informed consent, resulting in violations of their human rights, including to their right to food. These land grabbing is accompanied by cultural erasure, including the renaming of villages and places with Bengali-Islamic names.
Alarming reports also indicate coerced religious conversions of Indigenous children, particularly in remote and impoverished areas, under the guise of education and welfare.
Despite the 1997 CHT Accord promising Indigenous autonomy and protection of their rights, the agreement it remains largely unimplemented.
Finally, on behalf of said four organizations, Stefania Carrer urged the Human Rights Council and relevant Special Rapporteurs to call on Bangladesh to fully implement the CHT Accord; to recognize the Indigenous status of the Jumma Peoples, and to cease forced assimilation policies resulting in violations of cultural and linguistic rights.
