433 arrested under digital law in the country this year: Amnesty International

As of July 11 this year, at least 433 people have been arrested in Bangladesh under the Digital Security Act (DSA). Amnesty International, a London-based human rights group, said in a recent research report quoting the Department of Prisons. The report was published on Monday under the headline 'Bangladesh: No Place for Different opinion- Campaign Against Freedom of Expression Online'. The 24-page report, published by Amnesty International, reviews the cases of 10 people detained under the DSA, including author Mushtaq Ahmed and cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore. According to the Amnesty briefing, as of July 2021, there are at least 433 prisoners in Bangladesh under the DSA; Most of them have been arrested for publishing inaccurate and offensive information online. Among those targeted by the law are journalists, cartoonists, singers, activists, entrepreneurs, students, and even an uneducated farmer. Since the introduction of DSA in October 2018, 1,300 cases have been filed against 2,000 people in Bangladesh. Reviewing their cases, the report said that the law empowered the authorities to conduct massive human rights violations, including disappearances, preventive arrests and torture, just for criticizing those in power on social media. Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International's South Asia campaigner, said it was clear from the kind of action the authorities were taking under the DSA that how dangerous it was to protest or disagree in Bangladesh. The imposition of such unjust restrictions on various forms of expression has sent a message of fear to all sections of Bangladeshi society and has narrowed the scope of work of the independent media and civil society. Those who have been detained by the Bangladeshi authorities just for exercising their right to express their views must be released. The briefing further states- campaigning anywhere just for commenting online; The DSA empowers law enforcement to seize the device and its contents and make arrests without a warrant. Such practices violate the freedom of expression protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), where Bangladesh is also a signatory to the ICCPR.