Amnesty urges govt to protect freedom of expression

 
Amnesty International urged the Bangladesh government on Thursday to stop criminalising freedom of expression and immediately release everyone detained.

“Two years after Bangladesh’s July Uprising, people are still paying the price for speaking out,” Amnesty International South Asia said in a post on X, accompanied by a video featuring three Dhaka University students.

The rights watchdog said that despite promises of a future respecting human rights, people continue to be arrested simply for criticising the government online.

The video stated that the crackdown on protesters in July and August 2024 left as many as 1,400 people dead and thousands more injured. It said the uprising was driven by a commitment to protecting human rights and preventing Bangladesh from descending into “repressive authoritarianism.”

In the video, Shima Akhter, a student of DU’s Department of Music, said freedom of expression was crucial for Bangladesh as a democratic state. “If the authorities ever want to suppress freedom of expression, they should take lessons from what happened in July and 1990. They should adopt policies to make the country democratic and reform the laws,” she said.

Prathama Chakma, an indigenous women’s activist and DU student of Women and Gender Studies, said women who speak about freedom of expression or their rights face cyberbullying and attacks over clothing, culture and religious practices. “Although women were placed on the front line during July, many of their stories have not come to light,” she added in that video.

Samia Masud Momo, student leader and general secretary of the Shamsunnahar Hall student union, said people had not been allowed to speak for 17 years. “After 17 years, freedom of expression emerged within us like a spark, and that spark turned into a wildfire,” she said.