Impunity: Bangladesh's Scorecard Grows Longer

SALEEM SAMAD

Bangladesh has an appalling record of press freedom and freedom of expression since the country switched to Parliamentary Democracy in 1991 after a decade and half of military dictatorship.

According to impunity scorecard, 35 journalists, bloggers, freelancers have been killed in Bangladesh since 1992 to 2019, according to a draft Impunity Scorecard 2019 prepared by Freedom of Expression, Bangladesh (FExB).

The highest numbers of journalists, bloggers, freelancers, and media practitioners were killed, at least 5 persons each in 2004 and 2015.

However, there were zero casualties for seven consecutive years in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019. The zero casualty phenomenons are difficult to determine. A conclusive statement could only be made after extensive anthropological research.

Unfortunately, most of the deaths are caused by non-state actors. Their mission was to "shoot the messenger", to stop exposing the underworld crimes, smuggling, left extremists and radicalized Islamists. The predators of journalists remain mysterious, nameless and unidentified non-state actors, which is the biggest threat to journalists in Bangladesh. Bangladesh law enforcing agencies and the judiciary have equally failed to deliver justice for crimes against journalists and bloggers.

Police authorities investigating the murder cases says that the motives behind all these killings could not be confirmed, therefore the prime suspect, the predators could not be nabbed.

First published in The New Nation, November 09, 2019

Saleem Samad, Bangladesh Correspondent, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
email: saleemsamad@hotmail.com

Bangladesh Press Freedom Situation 2019

Where political conditions were unsettled, toll on journalism is heavy

Saleem Samad

In its annual press freedom index, Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has dropped Bangladesh to 150th out of 180 countries, unfortunately lowest among South Asian nations.

In Bangladesh, the space to exercise freedom of speech is shrinking day by day. Even though the constitution guarantees freedom of expression, the authorities deliberately ignore it.

Despite several appeals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United States, the European Union, and journalists within Bangladesh to repeal and revise the notorious Digital Security Act to comply with international human rights law, the government has continued to use the law to silence criticism. Journalists are under immense pressure to self-censor or risk arrest.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, on October 15, 2018, editors of all the major dailies in Bangladesh formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka. They took to the streets demanding amendments to a new law, the Digital Security Act 2018, which was passed by the parliament on September 19, 2018.

The censorship in Bangladesh has reached a stifling high. Activist and acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam spent over 100 days in jail for spreading “propaganda through social media” under Bangladesh’s draconian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, after he criticized the government’s violent crackdown on student protesters. Other journalists attempting to report on the same protests were beaten with machetes and metal pipes by supporters of the ruling Awami League while police stood by. And dozens more have been arrested under the ICT Act and it’s even more repressive successor, the Digital Security Act, writes Brad Adams of New York based Human Rights Watch.

Self-censorship is growing in Bangladesh’s media as a result of the endemic violence against journalists and media houses, coupled with the widespread impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of these crimes, argues International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Last month, the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre blocked access to Al Jazeera after the news agency published a report citing allegations against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s security advisor.

In February, the government blocked nearly 20,000 websites in what was described as an “anti-pornography” sweep, but which included somewhereinblog.net, a popular blogging site that serves as a platform for 250,000 registered bloggers, Bangla Google Books, and popular social media apps, TikTok and Bigo.

Notwithstanding Bangladesh’s Information Minister Hasan Mahmud disputed RSF’s report findings, saying there is “no censorship on news.” But he failed to contest the rampant “self-censorship” in private televisions, daily newspapers and news portals.

London based another media rights organization, Article 19 in its annual report stated that the trend of journalist violence has changed in Bangladesh in the past few years. For instance there were 31 defamation cases, 71 cases brought under section 57 of ICT Act (Digital Security Act) 2018, and 9 illegal arrest warrant and 20 more different types of legal harassment occurred in the year.

Two journalists were murdered in 2018.

Suborna Nodi, 32, the Pabna correspondent for Ananda TV and a journalist for the Daily Jagroto Bangla newspaper, was hacked to death at the door of her home on August 28.

Shahjahan Bachchu, acting editor of weekly Amader Bikrampur, become the victim of a horrific killing in Munshiganj district on June 11.

Freedom of the press remains imperiled as violence against journalists continues to spike in the country, according to a report of local rights group Ain O Shalish Kendro (ASK), released on January 10, 2019.

“As many as 207 journalists have been harassed from January 1 to December 31, a steep climb from 122 in 2017 and 117 in 2016,” the organization reported.

At least 61 journalists were assaulted by members of the ruling party or its wing organizations and 42 journalists were victims of bomb attacks.

Another 18 journalists were harassed by law enforcement agencies, with 11 others receiving threats from purported ruling party members, government officials, and anonymous callers.

Moreover, publication of 15 news reports led to lawsuits being filed. Nine journalists were assaulted by government officials. Three journalists were killed and at least one went missing.

The International Federation of Journalists - IFJ 2019 Report argued that the situation in Bangladesh is as bad. Journalists and other activists are threatened with arrests and detentions for the comments they make online.

Internet shutdowns are becoming increasingly common in South Asia – especially in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The economic cost for total internet shutdown for Bangladesh it is USD 63 million, for 24 hours for Pakistan is equivalent to USD 65 million and a whopping USD 1 billion for India.

Saleem Samad, is an Ashoka Fellow (USA), recipient of Hellman-Hammett Award and also Bangladesh correspondent of Paris based international media rights organization, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Twitter @saleemsamad; email

Historic judgment for Gautam Das murder in Bangladesh

SUMIT GALHOTRA

Almost eight years have passed since the murder of Bangladeshi journalist Gautam Das, but the slow wheels of justice have finally rotated. Late last month, a court sentenced nine individuals to life in prison in connection with the scribe's murder. Many local journalists have hailed the verdict as a landmark, the first time a Bangladeshi court has successfully prosecuted a murder of a journalist.
 
Eight of the nine convicted on June 27 are junior politicians belonging to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, including the son of a former parliamentarian, according to news reports.
 
"This marks the first time in Bangladesh's 42-year history that the police thoroughly investigated the murder of a journalist, arrested the perpetrators, and that a court delivered a favorable verdict," said Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, a prominent journalist and former head of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists.
 
Shortly before his murder in November 2005, Das published a series of reports for the Dhaka-based daily Samakal, detailing corruption by BNP officials, according to news reports. His body was found strangled in his bureau in the town of Faridpur, 40 miles outside the capital. The following day, Das' colleague filed a complaint with local police, accusing 10 individuals in connection with the murder, many of whom were members of the then-ruling BNP, according to reports.  
 
But the long road to justice was pitted with potholes. One of the accused died during the course of the trial. Others were released on bail. Witnesses scared of testifying backed out, according to Saleem Samad, a local journalist who knew Das. And in 2006, the case was transferred from the local district court to the Dhaka Speedy Tribunal Court 1 for an expedited judgment after pressure from local journalists. One defendant challenged the legality of this transfer, resulting in further delays.
 
Seven years later, this "speedy" court delivered its decision. While many journalists and press freedom advocates have welcomed the verdict, Das' widow, Dipali Das, expressed her disappointment and concerns to local media that the convicts would try to use their finances to get out of jail. Her concerns are legitimate; Bangladesh is consistently rated one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Dipali Das said the killers deserved the death penalty.
 
It is widely accepted by those who knew Das that those sentenced are the individuals behind the murder. It remains unclear if these men are the masterminds based on the police investigation, eyewitness accounts and confessions of the convicts, according to local journalists. Bulbul warned that the judgment will likely be appealed, and in a politicized place like Bangladesh, there is always the possibility that the defendants walk free.
 
Impunity for journalists' murders runs deep in Bangladesh. At least 14 journalists have been killed in direct relation to their work since CPJ began keeping records in 1992. Six others have been killed for reasons that remain unclear. Bangladesh ranks as the world's 19th deadliest country for the press, according to CPJ data. "For last 40 years hardly any journalists silenced for their profession had received justice, despite media pressure. In some incidents the family members have rejected the court verdict, some have even withdrawn their case out of frustration," said Samad.

Bulbul is hopeful this may change. "This is the beginning of the end of the culture of impunity that exists for journalist murders in Bangladesh," he said.

First appeared in Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) blog, July 10, 2013

Sumit Galhotra is the research associate for CPJ's Asia program. He served as CPJ's inaugural Steiger Fellow and has worked for CNN International, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch. He has reported from London, India, and Israel and the Occupied Territories, and specializes in human rights and South Asia