FE Report
Restrictions on democratic freedom in Bangladesh remain a cause of grave concern to the UK, said a statement on Bangladesh in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The United Kingdom (UK) wants to see a free, fair and inclusive election process, the statement released on Friday by the UK Mission, Geneva said.
"We also remain concerned by actions against freedom of expression in Bangladesh, and remind the Government of its commitment to work with civil society in Bangladesh to protect freedom of expression, specifically with regard to international concerns on Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act," it added.
The UK also reminds the government of its commitment to develop a roadmap to implement the Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 on combating religious intolerance.
"We urge the Government to clearly set out how it is addressing the human rights concerns we have detailed, including how it plans to engage in a dialogue with civil society in Bangladesh," it said.
The UK thanks Bangladesh for its continued engagement with the UPR and its support for two of the recommendations: to combat religious intolerance, and to work with civil society in Bangladesh to protect freedom of expression.
"We also welcome Bangladesh's continued support to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh".
"As a country that has answered the Prime Minister's Call to Action on Modern Slavery, we hope that Bangladesh will accept our third recommendation to increase labour inspections and take action against individuals and organisations that subject migrant workers to forced labour and human trafficking," the statement said.
On the other hand, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed on Saturday deep concerns over the passage of the Digital Security Act by Parliament last week. It also urged President Abdul Hamid to return it for review.
"We urge you to take action to prevent this, and ensure that the next bill the legislature sends you adheres to the guarantees made in Bangladesh's Constitution as well as to international norms," Steven Butler, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator, said in a letter to President Hamid.
The CPJ is concerned that the legislation, if allowed to become a law, would violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press, and create extensive legal dangers for journalists in the normal course of carrying out their professional activities, reads the letter a copy of which the UNB received from the CPJ.
The CPJ respectfully urged the Bangladesh President to exercise his constitutional authority to return the legislation to Parliament for revisions that would eliminate these dangers.
"Specifically, we ask that legislators address the concerns that have been expressed repeatedly by the community of journalists in Bangladesh, as outlined below," the letter reads.
One of the most worrisome provisions of the Digital Security Act is an amendment added at the last minute to Section 43, which will allow police to arrest or search individuals without any warrant, according to the letter sent to President.
"In addition, the Digital Security Act includes problematic aspects of Section 57 of the Information and Communications Technology Act, despite public promises by government ministers to eliminate it. Section 57 has been repeatedly used to imprison journalists in defamation cases.
"Government ministers had previously acknowledged that police misused Section 57, and had promised that procedures would be established to prevent this. Instead, journalists continue to be subject to the danger of arbitrary arrest in the normal course of their activities," the letter says.
Also of concern is the inclusion of the colonial-era Official Secrets Act in the Digital Security Act, which seems to contradict the Right to Information provisions included elsewhere in the legislation, reads the letter.
"The extension of the Official Secrets Act into the digital sphere escalates the hazards faced by investigative journalists who play a vital role in exposing corruption in government."
The extremely heavy fines and punishments, up to Tk 50 million (US$ 600,000) and life imprisonment depending on the offence, threaten to make journalism an unacceptably hazardous profession and will result in a timid press that cannot play the important role required to support a vital democracy in Bangladesh, the CPJ said.
The CPJ is similarly concerned that the vague descriptions of potential offences, such as hurting religious values or causing deterioration in law and order, would invite arbitrary use and misuse of the law to restrict the media.
It said Bangladesh has a proud 56-year history as a secular democracy with strong affirmations of human rights and freedom of speech and the press.
"This legislation promises to damage that tradition, and to severely harm Bangladesh's standing among the community of democracies as a defender of press freedom," the letter added.
An FE report adds: Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan), a civil society platform, suggested on Saturday abolition of suppressive sections of the 'Digital Security Act-2018' approved by parliament recently.
The platform also urged the government to bring some changes to the much-talked-about act to make it people-oriented.
The suggestions were made in a statement signed by Sujan President M Hafizuddin Khan and its Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar.
The 'Digital Security Bill-2018' was passed in parliament by voice vote on September 19.
In the statement, they said, "We think the latest act is contrary to the fundamental rights of the citizens; it will shrink the country's democratic atmosphere, take away people's freedom of speech and will create feelings of insecurity among the citizens."
Terming sections 8, 28, 29 and 31 of the act suppressive, the statement said, "These sections can be used to harass and gag the voices of citizens and may be used to disrupt the freedom of media."
Mentioning that the act would allow law-enforcing agencies to search, seize and detain anyone without any warrant or approval, they said Sujan thinks that the police may misuse the act to oppress common citizens.
Besides, to prevent digital espionage, the 'Official Secrets Act, 1923' of the colonial era was incorporated with the Section 32, which will create a corruption-friendly atmosphere in the country.
They also observed that hundreds of people were nabbed forcibly in last six years by law enforcing agencies using the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act that received much criticism at home and abroad.
Because of that, people from different quarters raised suggestions before enacting the Digital Security Act, but the government didn't consider those fully, the Sujan leaders added.
Rather, the abolished Section 57 of the ICT Act was included in the recently-passed Digital Security Act dividing it into parts to form Sections 25, 28, 29 and 31.
The Sujan also urged the President not to sign the 'Digital Security Act Bill-2018' into a law and should return it to parliament for a revision.
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