Amnesty International has urged Bangladesh to end the crackdown on people’s right to freedom of expression online and repeal the Digital Security Act (DSA) unless it can be amended in compliance with international human rights law and standards.
A new report, “No space for dissent”, released by the rights organisation on Monday examines cases under the DSA, a law that contains “overbroad and vague” provisions granting the authorities extensive powers to police the online space, against 10 individuals who have been subjected to a wide range of human rights violations including enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture, simply for criticising powerful people on social media.
Bangladesh has at least 433 people imprisoned under the DSA as of July 2021, most of whom are held on allegations of publishing false and offensive information online, Amnesty International said.
Those targeted include journalists, cartoonists, musicians, activists, entrepreneurs, students and even a farmer who cannot read or write, among others. In one case, writer Mushtaq Ahmed died in prison after languishing there for 10 months without trial on accusations under the DSA. One inmate alleged that he was subjected to torture, according to the report.
“The actions taken by the authorities under the purview of the DSA demonstrate just how dangerous it has become to speak out and voice dissenting views in Bangladesh today. These undue restrictions on different forms of expression have sent a chilling effect across Bangladeshi society and have severely curbed the space for independent media and civil society organisations,” said Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia campaigner. “Bangladeshi authorities must release all prisoners held solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.”
The DSA gives arbitrary powers to law enforcement agencies to conduct searches, seize devices and their contents, and arrest individuals without a warrant simply for a comment they may have shared online, in violation of the right to freedom of expression enshrined under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Bangladesh is a party.
“We remind the Bangladeshi authorities about the recommendations they accepted from several UN member states during the country’s last Universal Periodic Review in May 2018, with regards to taking concrete measures to bring all legislation including the DSA in conformity with the ICCPR,” said Hammadi.
Introduced in October 2018, the DSA is “increasingly being used to stifle dissent on social media, websites, and other digital platforms, with punishments that can extend to life imprisonment”. The authorities have targeted critical voices under the pretext that they have made false, offensive, derogatory or defamatory statements online, Amnesty International said.
Even before its adoption, the UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression and on the situation of human rights defenders raised concerns over the draft of the DSA. Several UN member states at Bangladesh’s UPR recommended the government amend the DSA “to ensure online freedom of expression”.
“The government, despite accepting these recommendations, has so far failed to follow through on its promise and continues to crack down on people’s right to freedom of expression,” Amnesty International said.
In February, rights activist Ruhul Amin was arrested for a Facebook post criticising the Bangladesh government for the death of Mushtaq Ahmed. He was subjected to “intrusive questioning” and imprisoned for 45 days before he was eventually released on bail.
Mushtaq Ahmed was arrested in May 2020 for criticising the Bangladeshi government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic on Facebook. Denied bail at least six times, he reportedly died of a heart attack in prison on Feb 25.
“Mushtaq Ahmed should not have spent a single minute in prison, let alone his final ones. Many provisions in the DSA are criminalising conduct that should not constitute an offence in the first place. We urge the authorities to break away from this practice of using the law as a weapon against dissent,” said Hammadi.
Amnesty International said it found a concerning pattern in which the authorities are weaponising sections 25 (transmission, publication of offensive, false or threatening data information), 29 (publication, transmission of defamatory information), and 31 (offence and punishment for deteriorating law and order) of the Act to target and harass critical voices.
The Cyber Tribunal based in Dhaka, which holds trials of cybercrimes including cases filed under the DSA, has recorded 199 cases under trial between Jan 1 and May 6. Amnesty International has found 134 of those cases that clearly specified the sections under the DSA. Eighty percent of those cases (or 107 out of 134) were filed under both sections 25 and 29 of the DSA.
The briefing finds that cases against six out of 10 individuals featured all three of these DSA sections, with sections 25 and 31 used against three other individuals.
The way in which defamation is criminalised under the Digital Security Act shows the serious shortcomings of a criminal approach to defamation, where the law has been further instrumentalised to silence dissent. Amnesty International calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that defamation is treated as a matter for civil litigation, not criminal.
