The international human rights organization “ARTICLE 19” said that the freedom of expression and media is being undermined through the digital security law. This was announced in a statement on Tuesday (August 16). In this statement, the international human rights organization called for the creation of a coordinated and effective national system to ensure the accountability of the Bangladesh authorities in implementing the recommendations of the third phase of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
This international human rights organization, based in the UK, has called for the creation of concerted and effective national mechanisms to ensure the accountability of the Bangladesh authorities in implementing the recommendations of the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The rights body promoting freedom of expression and the protection of journalists around the world has also called for specific progress to be made public in the implementation of the commitments made by the Bangladesh government 4 years back to improve the human rights situation, in particular those aimed at strengthening the protection of freedom of expression, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is currently visiting Bangladesh.
The Government of Bangladesh during its third UPR at the 39th session of the UNHRC in Geneva on 20 September 2018 accepted 178 recommendations from other UN member-states, of which at least 25 recommendations were related to strengthening the protection of freedom of expression. Each member state under review gets time till the next reporting period, almost five years, to implement the commitments made under this process. As such, Bangladesh is in the final year of implementing the recommendations of the third phase. The government will have to submit a national report on implementation progress and existing impediments in June and participate in the review in November of the next year.
Faruq Faisel, regional director for ARTICLE 19 South Asia, said: ‘‘During the 39th session of the UNHRC on UPR, a high level of concern was raised about the potential misuse and abuse of the proposed Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018. However, the government did not take such concerns into account at that time and thereafter enacted the flawed law. Now they have formed a committee to address any misuse or abuse of the law. The government has informed the visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the committee submitted a report on the matter. ARTICLE 19 demands that this report to be made public and the repressive sections identified in the law to be repealed immediately.’’
DSA has been exponential in curtailing freedom of expression and media severely since its enactment. According to ARTICLE 19, 89 reported cases have been filed against 177 journalists in two and a half years from January 2020 to June 2022. Fifty-three of these journalists were imprisoned for a long time without trial and were harassed even to get bail. ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned by the deteriorating situation for the rights to freedom of expression, media freedom, and safety of journalists. Bangladesh ranked 131 out of 161 countries in the 2022 Global Expression Report – ARTICLE 19’s annual review of the state of freedom of expression and the right to information around the world. In Bangladesh, 740 journalists were victimized by different types of violence while performing their professional duties in 2021 alone. These journalists have been subjected to 439 recorded incidents of violation of freedom of expression, including physical assault, legal harassment that includes prosecution, abduction, threats, harassment, loss of property, and other cognizable acts of violence. This is the highest number in the last five years – both in terms of rights violations and the number of journalists who were victims of violence.
Faruq Faisel said, ‘‘Policymakers in the government often say that participation in the UPR process and implementation of recommendations is a priority issue for Bangladesh. Again, ensuring the freedom of the media and the protection of journalists is one of the top human rights commitments of the current government. However, we are not convinced enough on whether the government is taking any effective initiative to implement the related UPR recommendations. Therefore, it is necessary to create a coordinated and effective national mechanism to ensure the accountability of the Bangladesh authorities in this regard. At the same time, priority should be given to the implementation of the recommendations, particularly, strengthening the freedom of expression and the protection of journalists.