Suspend use of DSA immediately: UN rights chief

Amid growing criticism over the arrest of a Prothom Alo reporter under the Digital Security Act, the United Nations Human Rights chief yesterday called upon Bangladesh to immediately suspend the application of the contentious law.

"I am concerned that the Digital Security Act is being used across Bangladesh to arrest, harass and intimidate journalists and human rights defenders, and to muzzle critical voices online," UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement.

"I call again on the authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on its use and to reform comprehensively its provisions to bring them in line with the requirements of international human rights law. My office has already provided detailed technical comments to assist with such a revision," added the UN high commissioner for human rights.

The statement comes when demands are growing louder for the repeal of the controversial law and the release of Prothom Alo Staff Correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams, who was picked up from home in Savar around 4:00am on Wednesday after being sued under the law. He was taken to Kashimpur Central Jail-1 from Dhaka Central Jail around 1:30pm yesterday.

Apart from Shams, Prothom Alo Editor and Publisher Matiur Rahman, an unnamed photographer, and unnamed others were accused in the case filed under the DSA.

The UN office mentioned that in February, a young man, Poritosh Sarkar, was sentenced to five years in prison under this law after being accused of hurting religious sentiments through a Facebook post.

"My Office has consistently raised concerns about the overly broad and ill-defined provisions of the Digital Security Act.

"The government has promised there will be safeguards against the arbitrary or excessive application of the law but that is not enough when arrests continue. The law itself needs a proper overhaul," read the statement.

The high commissioner called for the creation of an independent judicial panel to review all pending cases brought under the DSA with a view to those accused being released.

The UN rights office also said over 2,000 cases have been brought under the DSA, which came into force in October 2018.

Demanding immediate scrapping of the DSA, Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday said the law is a threat to independent and investigative journalism.

Repeated misuse of this act is an impediment to journalists discharging their professional responsibilities. Instead of going to the Press Council to seek redress for grievances over newspaper reports, most individuals are now filing lawsuits under the controversial act and harassing journalists, the DRU said in a press release.

Meanwhile, the US state department expressed deep concern over the Bangladesh government's use of the DSA.

During a question-answer session, US state department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, "So broadly, what I would say is we remain deeply concerned about the government's use of the Digital Security Act. And freedom of expression, including for members of the press, is an essential element of democracy and is especially important in an election year.

"No members of the press should be threatened, harassed, physically attacked, or arrested for simply doing their job."

Besides, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement published on its website, said, "Bangladesh authorities' harassment of staff members with the Prothom Alo newspaper and the arrest of correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams under the draconian Digital Security Act are clear attempts to quash critical reporting."

CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said, "Authorities must immediately release Shams and cease abusing the legal process against journalists, which produces a chilling effect on the media."

The Workers' Party of Bangladesh in a statement said the case against Prothom Alo journalists set another example of how the DSA is being used as a weapon of repression.

While posting a report written by Shams on social media on March 26, the Independence Day, Prothom Alo made a "card" with a quote of a labourer named Zakir Hossain. Though the card contained Zakir's quote, it had the photo of an adolescent boy taken from behind.

The mistake was noticed within 17 minutes, and the card was removed. Besides, corrections were made to the report and the news was again published online mentioning the corrections.

DEMONSTRATIONS

Jahangirnagar University students kept the Dhaka-Aricha highway blocked for almost an hour, demanding release of Shams and scrapping of the DSA.

Around 50 students marched through the campus in the afternoon before blocking the road.

Prothom Alo Bandhu Sabha Chattogram, a platform of readers of the paper, formed a human chain demanding withdrawal of the cases filed against the journalists.

People from different walks of life formed a human chain in Thakurgaon town where speakers said instead of arresting journalists, the government should take proper steps to address market manipulation that contributes to the rising prices of food.