AI News :
Bangladesh must put an end to the wave of repression in the country that has seen journalists being targeted and others threatened, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, as the human rights organization called on the government to promptly amend the draconian Digital Security Act in compliance with international human rights law.
Three journalists including a prominent newspaper editor have been accused of “deteriorating law and order” under the Act and one journalist has been brutally tortured this year for producing critical reports. Another journalist accused under the Act is feared to be a victim of enforced disappearance. More than 1,000 cases have been filed under the Act since it was put into implementation in October 2018. “Journalists in Bangladesh are being silenced under the draconian Digital Security Act. Recent cases against journalists, including a prominent newspaper editor, a journalist who was tortured and a newspaper editor feared to be a victim of enforced disappearance are chilling reminders that freely expressing one’s views in Bangladesh can come at a very high cost,” said Saad Hammadi, South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International. Police have denied any information about the whereabouts of journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, who has not been seen or heard from since 10 March 2020, a day after police registered a case against him and 31 others under Bangladesh’s troubling Digital Security Act for publishing “false, offensive and defamatory” content on Facebook.
The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Shafiqul Islam Kajol raise serious alarms and send a chilling message that people can no longer express their opinions freely and safely. The authorities must urgently determine his fate and whereabouts, and ensure he is immediately released if under state custody.
Despite Bangladesh’s denial of the allegations of enforced disappearances, human rights organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about the practice of unacknowledged detention and enforced disappearances.
Last year, the local human rights organization Odhikar documented at least 34 incidents of alleged enforced disappearances. Eight of them were later found dead, 17 were shown arrested while the fate and whereabouts of the other nine remain unknown. When reviewing Bangladesh’s initial report on its implementation of the Convention Against Torture, the UN Committee Against Torture regretted that Bangladesh did not provide any information about the status of investigations into allegations of enforced disappearances.
“No amount of consolation can heal the trauma and anxiety lived by the families of the victims of enforced disappearance, without knowledge about what happened to their loved ones. We urge the Bangladesh government to heed the appeals of the families, look at their suffering and urgently launch investigations to determine their whereabouts,” said Saad Hammadi. Shafiqul Islam Kajol is accused of “deteriorating law and order” by publishing “false, offensive and defamatory” content on Facebook in a case against prominent newspaper editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury and 30 others under the draconian Digital Security Act. The law gives the power to security agencies to hold individuals indefinitely in pretrial detention. If convicted, they could each face up to seven years in jail.
