Rozina’s Detention: Five UN experts seek info from govt

Five UN independent experts have requested the Bangladesh government to provide information on the legal basis of journalist Rozina Islam's arrest in May and asked if the detention and charges against her are compatible with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

They also sought views of the government on the use of Official Secrets Act against the media in the light of the state's obligation to disclose information of public interest under the Right to Information Act.

In a letter issued on June 28 this year, the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR)-appointed special rapporteurs also requested the government to respond within 60 days.

Shanchita Haque, deputy head of Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, said a response to the letter was submitted to the OHCHR based on an information note provided by the home ministry in Dhaka.

"We said Rozina's case is under investigation and that she is on bail. We also said that the Bangladesh government is committed to the freedom of expression," she told this correspondent yesterday.

Those who wrote to the Bangladesh government are Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Miriam Estrada-Castillo, vice-chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Mary Lawlor, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Nils Melzer, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and Dubravka Simonovic, special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.

On May 17 this year, Prothom Alo journalist Rozina was confined to a room of the health ministry for six hours. Later, a case was filed against her under the Official Secrets Act and she was arrested.

After a week of imprisonment, she was freed on bail. While arresting Rozina, police seized her passport, mobile phone and accreditation card, and she is yet to get those back.

On Tuesday, she received the Free Press Award in the "Most Resilient Journalist Award 2021" category at The Hague from the Netherlands-based Free Press Unlimited.

The UN experts said her detention comes a few weeks after Rozina had published investigative reports on alleged corruption and mismanagement in the health sector and irregularities in the purchasing of emergency medical supplies to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The alleged circumstances of her arrest raise further concerns that she may be prosecuted in retaliation of her critical reporting," the letter says, expressing concern at the use of the Official Secrets Act-1923, which is a broad and unspecific state security legislation and provides for harsh penalties.

They said use of security-related legislation in the context of investigative journalism into a public health issue, which is of immense interest to the public, has a chilling effect on media freedom in the country, and could be detrimental to the objectives of the government to build public trust in its efforts to address the pandemic.

The experts mentioned that Bangladesh's Right to Information Act and article 39 of the Constitution of Bangladesh that places an obligation on the state to disclose information of public interest and recognises the right to information as an integral part of the freedom of thought, conscience and speech.

They also urged that all necessary measures are taken to investigate the alleged violations and in the event that the investigations support or suggest the allegations to be correct, to ensure the accountability of any person responsible for the alleged violations.