Shahidul Alam: Journalist, Photographer And Human Rights Campaigner Endangered
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Our friend and colleague, Shahidul Alam PhD, is a citizen and journalist working in Bangladesh and globally.
He studied in Britain, where three decades ago he gained his doctorate in organic chemistry before turning to photojournalism, using his camera to document the imperilled conditions and human rights of people in various parts of the world.
Sadly the safety and freedom of Shahidul himself is now at risk.
Here is an account of what Shahidul Alam tells us happened in 2018 when he reported a safety campaign by young fellow Bangladeshis after a road traffic incident. The text below, co-authored by Lorraine Koonce-Farahmand and myself, explains why that episode has somehow, even more than five years later, led to continued peril for this committed human rights campaigner.
Shahidul Alam
The peaceful right to protest, the bedrock of a democratic society is once again being tested and denied against Shahidul Alam. He has rights to UK residence and obtained a PhD in organic chemistry in the UK. He has documented human-rights abuses and political upheaval in Bangladesh, his home nation, for over 30 years.
Shahidul Alam has been the recipient of numerous and awards: 2014: Shilpakala Padak, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2018: Humanitarian Award, Lucie Awards, 2018: Tribute Award, Frontline Club, UK for his contribution to journalism, 2019: Special Presentation Award 2019, International Center of Photography and 2020: CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
The Time Person of the Year 2018 and prize-winning photographer had been imprisoned for allegedly spreading lies on social media regarding a student movement demanding safer roads after a road accident killed two teenagers. Shahidul Alam photographed the hurt, the pain and the anger of thousands of students who protested unsafe road conditions and demanded road safety improvements. As the protests expanded, the police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and severing mobile Internet access. Shahidul told Al Jazeera that police had stood by whilst armed gangs attacked students. Courageously he did not hesitate to voice his criticisms of the government’s response to the protests. Hours later, over a dozen plainclothes police burst into Alam’ s apartment and placed him under arrest. He was picked up under section 57 B under the The Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006, which preceded the Digital Security Act. Alam alleges he was beaten; when he appeared barefoot in court, he was unable to walk unassisted. He was imprisoned for a total of 107 days. This was in 2018.
Since its inception, the Digital Security Act 2018 (DSA) of Bangladesh has faced extensive criticism for being used as a tool against freedom of expression, media freedom, human rights, and dissension. The decision to replace the DSA with a new draft Cyber Security Act (draft CSA) demonstrates the Bangladeshi Government’s recognition that it failed to find the right balance between digital security and civil liberties and compromised the latter in the name of the former. [i]And once again in 2024 Alam is still being charged with the same ‘crime’, notwithstanding that last September the government replaced the Digital Security Act 2018 (DSA) with the Cyber Security Act 2023 (CSA) after facing criticism for the use of the DSA to stifle freedom of expression and suppress dissent.
Five and a half years after he was arrested, and despite the fact that no charge sheet has yet been submitted, he is regularly required to appear in court. The next appearance is on 7th May 2024.
The right to free speech and freedom of the press are not meaningless words of trivial unimportance, but rather a crucial recognition of their dual importance. These basic rights are enshrined in several pristine treaties including The Universal Declaration of Human Rights [2](UDHR) 1948 (preamble, arts 18 & 19) and further exemplified in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right that states in relevant part. “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference and [ii] Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. [iii]
Bangladesh is a signatory to these treaties. Bangladesh’s crackdown on freedom of the press is contrary not only to its treaty obligations but also is an egregious reminder that exposing the truth can result in imprisonment and or detention.
Many have questioned how is it possible that Shahidul can be at risk of detention under a law that has been repealed.
Prominent journalists and activists such as Shahidul Alam continue to face charges. This is a pattern tragically familiar to journalists. They face increasing attacks for exercising their right to freely criticize government policies and practices. In the face of a government trying to stifle the media, Shahidul Alam ’s courage has been met with serious prospects of prolonged detention under a law which has been annulled.
Watch a conversation between Shahidul Alam and Andrew Feinstein, a former MP in Nelson Mandela’s first democratic government, here:
[i] ti-bangladesh.org › upload › files Digital Security Act 2018 and the draft Cyber Security Act
[ii] UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 217 A (III), 10 December 1948, https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unga/1948/en/11563
[iii] UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171, 16 December 1966, https://www.refworld.org/legal/agreements/unga/1966/en/17703
This statement was co-authored by Lorraine Koonce-Farahmand and Hilary Burrage
If you would like to support Shahidul Alam please consider contacting your national MP or Representative, and Parliamentary or similar Bangladesh and Human Rights Committees, plus your national media, Pen International and the Index on Censorship. Thank you.
Hilary Burrage 