The Digital Security Act has been used as a weapon for repressing voices critical to the government and various mismanagement and corruption, said speakers in an online discussion on Saturday.

They also said that politicians and journalists were increasingly becoming victims of DSA cases.

The programme was organised to share a report titled ‘the unending nightmare: impacts of Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act 2018’ covering data of 26 months.

It revealed that the number of accused under the DSA increased to 147 per month — on average — between April 2021 and February 2022 from 61 persons — on average —from January 2020 to March 2021.

It also said that a total of 98 cases were filed for defaming prime minister.

A total of 58 people were arrested in those cases.

Law enforcement officials and people involved in the ruling Awami League politics filed most of the cases, said the report on DSA case presented in the programme arranged by the Centre for Governance Studies, a non-government think-tank.

Professor Ali Riaz, a distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University of USA, was the lead researcher of the study.

He said that their study found that the situation in the later part of the research period deteriorated alarmingly with indiscriminate use of the law by the ruling quarters.

Between January 2020 and February 2022 at least 2244 individuals were accused under the law in 890 cases, found the study. Of them, the highest 254 are politicians, followed by 207 journalists.

The study recorded that 842 people were arrested in the given timeframe, which means at an average 32 arrests made in DSA per month.

The research team managed to collect occupational information of 315 accused. Of them 80 were politicians, 59 were journalists and 47 were students.

Professor Riaz said that politicians and journalists are the most victimised groups in DSA cases since they raise critical voices with their speeches and writings.

From January 2020 to March 2021, some 913 people were accused in 426 cases and 273 of them were detained with an average of 18 detention per month, found the report.

On the other hand, during the next 11 months, 1,331 people were accused in 464 cases and 609 persons were detained with an average of 67 detentions per month, it says. of the 890 cases, identities of plaintiffs of 508 cases were confirmed.

The breakdown included that 111 cases were filed by law enforcement agencies, 43 cases by government officials, and 206 cases by individuals with affiliations with political parties. Of the politically affiliated accusers, 167 persons (81 per cent) are involved with Awami League, said professor Riaz.

Addressing the programme, Badiul Alam Majumdar, the secretary of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik, said that in a democratic country, people are born with certain rights as per the constitution and the universal declaration of human rights.

These rights include freedom of speech, right to vote, but laws like the DSA are being used to rob citizens of these rights and benefit those who are in power by letting them control online discourse, he said.

The DSA was also used before the last election to censor the media from accurate reporting, which is a clear weaponisation of the law.

Such weaponisation is taking place because the institutions that are meant to safeguard the legal system have been tainted with partisan politics, he said.

Speakers feared that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s draft regulation for digital, social media and OTT platforms is worse and it might get passed into law and abused before next general elections to repress opposition parties and gag critical voices.

Former election commissioner Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain stated that the DSA was enacted to curb criticism against the government.

‘Such laws exist because the incumbents are aware of the restricted nature of democracy in Bangladesh and therefore wish to avoid questions regarding the method by which they came into power,’ he said.

Faruq Faisel, regional Director of rights watchdog ARTICLE 19 said that the DSA contradicts multiple international human rights laws and the constitution of Bangladesh.

He said that ARTICLE 19 had informed the government about its concerns but the objections had largely been ignored.

CGS executive director Zillur Rahman moderated the programme.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/168855/dsa-used-as-weapon-to-repress-critical-voices-study