Information and Communication Technology (Amendment) Act likely to silence further human rights defenders!

On August 19, 2013, theCabinet of Bangladesh, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, passed in ahurry and approved theproposed draft of the Information and Communication Technology - ICT(Amendment) Act, 2013, although the Parliament is scheduled to be in session inSeptember 2013[1].

Should thisnew text enter into force, the highest punishment for offences covered by thelaw would reportedly be increased from 10 years under the existing Act to 14years under the amended Act. In addition, the offences would be considered asnon-eligiblefor bail. Moreover, while under the existing ICT Act, 2006, provisions werenon-cognisable and law enforcers were not allowed to arrest anyone withoutprior approval from an authority or court, the ICT (Amendment)Act, 2013 would consider some of the offences as cognisable. As a consequence, lawenforcers would have the power to arrest anyone accusedof violating the law without a warrant, by invoking Section 54 of theCode of Criminal Procedure.

TheObservatory is all the more concerned that those amendments take place in thecontext of the arrest on August 10, 2013 of Mr. AdilurRahman Khan, Secretary of the human rights non-governmental organisationOdhikar and a member of OMCT General Assembly, under Section 57 of the ICT Act2006, for “publishing false images and information” and “disrupting the law andorder situation of the country”. Mr. Khan was arrested in relation to afact-finding report issued by Odhikar aboutthe killing of 61 people during an operation carried out on May5-6, 2013 by law enforcement agencies againstHefazat-e Islam activists at the Dhaka’sdowntownMotijheel area. As of August 26, 2013, Mr. Khan remaineddetained in Kashimpur Jail number 1, onthe outskirts of Dhaka, where he was transferred on August 13, 2013.

“The new law seems to specifically target human rights defender AdilRahman Khan and other members of Odhikar”, said Gerald Staberock, SecretaryGeneral of OMCT. “There is nojustification of changing an already doubtful law, adding ex post facto newprovisions that prevent bail and all this in a de facto emergency procedure”,he added.

“We urge the President of Bangladesh not to promulgate the ICT (Amendment) Act, 2013 as it might lead to further arrests and harassment of humanrights defenders and therefore shrinking even more the space of civil societyin the country”, said Karim Lahidji, President of FIDH.

The Observatory reiteratesits deepest concern about Mr. AdilurRahman Khan's arbitrary detention, which seems to merely aim atsanctioning his peaceful human rights activities, and calls upon the authorities in Bangladesh to guarantee in allcircumstances his physical and psychological integrity as well as to releasehim immediately and unconditionally.

The Observatory also considers that ratherthan prosecuting human rights defenders criticising the State securityservices, it should assume its responsibility as a matter of urgency andappoint an independent judicial inquiry into the alleged killings followingthe operation carried out on May 5-6, 2013 during the Hefazat-e Islam rally in Motijheel.

More generally, the Observatory urges theauthorities in Bangladesh to put an end to any kind of harassment against allhuman rights defenders in Bangladesh as well as to conform with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on HumanRights Defenders and to ensure in all circumstances respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Bangladesh.

[1] Article 93 of theConstitution provides that a text can be promulgated as an Ordinance by thePresident of Bangladesh when the “Parliament (...) is not in session”, and“when immediate action is necessary”. Article 93 also adds that an Ordinanceshall nonetheless “be laid before Parliament at its first meeting following thepromulgation”.