Don’t send the act to cold storage
When the human rights situation in Bangladesh has been discussed widely at home and abroad, at that time it is in no way acceptable that the police deny disclosure of the number of cases filed, people accused and detainees arrested under the Digital Security Act (DSA).
According to a Prothom Alo report, writer, researcher and human rights defender Saad Hammadi on 7 June 2021 filed an application to the respective official at the police headquarters under the Right to Information Act, seeking information on how many cases have been filed under the Digital Security Act, how many people have been accused and how many have been arrested since the DSA was introduced.
Saad Hammadi is a citizen of Bangladesh and works at the South Asia regional office of Amnesty International in Sri Lanka. As he did not receive the information, Saad Hammadi appealed to the inspector general of police (IGP) on 18 July last year. Police then said the information sought by the applicant cannot be revealed under the sub-sections f, g and m of the section 7 of the RTI Act.
The sections of the RTI Act, as provided by the police, cannot be applicable here. According to section 7 (f), any such information that may, if disclosed, obstruct the enforcement of law or incite any offence, (g) any such information that may, if disclosed, endanger the security of public or impede the due judicial process of a pending case; and (m) any such information that may, if disclosed, affect any investigation process of offence and the arrest and prosecution of offender, then publication of, or providing with those types of information are not mandatory. We do not think if the number of cases, accused and arrests is disclosed, there is any reason for which either the safety of people will be threatened or the judicial process will be hampered.
We often see members of law enforcement agencies present the accused before the media and reveal the details of the cases. Reports of law enforcement agencies also contain details on types of crimes as well as cases and the accused. Amid this circumstance, there is no other way to look around on any individual or organisation asking for information about the number of cases filed, number of people accused and arrested under a certain act. Rather if accurate information is provided by the law enforcement agencies, confusions that persist will be dispelled.
The Prothom Alo report further said that the human rights defender filed a complaint with the information commission seeking remedies after being denied the information and it is still pending for disposal We want to say information that is not related to the national security must be revealed for the sake of rule of law and justice. People concerned should keep in mind that the Right to Information Act was enacted in 2009 to ensure the free flow of information and people’s rights to information. The Right to Information Act has been fairly ineffective following the introduction of Digital Security Act and, we expect the Right to Information Act will not be sent to the cold storage now.