ARTICLE 19, an international human rights organization working on freedom of expression and right to information, appreciated the decision of Bangladesh government to amend the controversial Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018.
From its inception, ARTICLE 19 has been calling for necessary amendment, where applicable, of controversial and repressive sections of the Act; particularly those that curtail freedom of expression and defamation, says a press release issued on Wednesday.
For this purpose, right after the enactment of Act, ARTICLE 19 fully analyzed the law in the light of international human rights standards and advocated continuously since 2018 with the highest levels of government, including the minister of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, minister of information and broadcasting, and minister of posts and telecommunications.
Faruq Faisel, regional director of ARTICLE 19 South Asia, said in a statement sent to the media on Wednesday: “The Cabinet’s decision to amend the DSA 2018 is positive. We hope that the provisions of the newly proposed 'Cyber Security Act 2023' in place of this Act should be consistent with international human rights standards.”
“In particular, the new law should not become an obstacle in practicing freedom of expression, freedom of media, dissent, free thought. We hope that the government will enact the new proposed law in consultation with all stakeholders based on the suggestions and opinions of all. In this case, ARTICLE 19 is ready to provide any kind of assistance," he added.
Noted that the Information and Communication Technology Act was enacted in 2006 to deal with crimes related to information technology.
Ever since the passing of that law, there has been a fierce debate about the misuse of various sections of this law, especially section 57.
In the face of protests by journalists and human rights activists, the government enacted the Digital Security Act in 2018, repealing sections 54, 55, 56, 57 and 66 of the Information and Communication Technology Act and instead inserted these sections in the new law in a more repressive manner.
From the beginning, including ARTICLE 19 various national and international human rights organizations, journalists, human rights activists have been protesting against the misuse of DSA 2018.
The new proposed law abolishes the provision of imprisonment for the offense of defamation and keeps only the provision of fine. Sections 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31 and 32 DSA 2018 non-bailable but have been made bailable in the proposed law.
Apart from this, the issue of double punishment in DSA 2018 for the second time of the same offense has not been kept in the proposed law.
The proposed law also seeks to reduce the punishment for the crime in some cases.
Welcoming these proposed provisions of the new law, ARTICLE 19 calls on the government not to include in the new law the concerns raised in DSA 2018, including the vagueness and over broadness of the definition of crimes, the accountability of relevant regulatory bodies and law enforcement authorities.
ARTICLE 19 appreciates that government pay heed to people and relevant stakeholders concerns and proposes in the new amendment inter alias annul the provision of imprisonment for defamation, make bailable offences relating to expression, reduce punishment of certain expression related offences.
ARTICLE 19 has been pursuing with recommendation for long time so that government abolishes the provision of imprisonment for defamation along with some other observations. ARTICLE 19 looks forward to further initiatives of amendment to ensure creating enabling environment for freedom of expression and right to information in the proposed amendment.
A judicial inquiry committee need to form to conduct an analysis of all incidents of people killed, jailed and suffer injustice due to misuse of the Digital Security Act from 2018 to 2023 and those responsible should be held accountable. The government cannot avoid its responsibility.
ARTICLE 19 expects that government will enact the new proposed law in consultation with all stakeholders based on the suggestions and opinions of all. It demands the release of all people arrested under DSA 2018 for exercising their right to freedom of expression. It also calls for ensuring no new arrest or filing no new case under this Act until the new law is enacted.