Photo: Collected
Law and Expatriates’ Welfare and Employment Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul on Sunday said the Cyber Security Act will be amended as parts of it are necessary for tackling the anti -social activities in the virtual world.
He said at a views-exchange meeting titled 'Right to Information – The Supporting Role of NGOs in Establishing Transparency and Accountable Good Governance' organised jointly by the Right to Information Forum and the Foundation for Human Rights at the Bureau of NGO Affairs in the city
Saying that all rights would be worthless without the right to information, Professor Nazrul said the right is not like any other right. This right is connected to every other right.
He also said anti-people laws, including the Cyber Security Act, will be amended very soon.
“There is a lack of awareness about rights. Our movement for the right to information has faded. Laws have been enacted but not properly implemented,” Asif said.
“The Right to Information Act was formulated during the tenure of the previous government and the Right to Information was also abolished, setting a vile example of anarchy. Arrangements will be made so that these acts are not repeated,” Asif Nazrul said.
Mentioning that concealing information is an instrument of repression, he said, “It is not possible to implement any law without fixing the governance, law and judiciary. We must be vocal about democracy, voting rights, and independence of the judiciary.”
He said, "If the country's law, justice and governance departments are not in order, then the Information Commission or the Human Rights Commission will not be able to do any work.
"Those who talk about the right to information should also talk about fair elections. We must speak out against forced disappearances, we must out speak against extrajudicial killings," he added.
Stating that the previous government had made the judiciary a tool of torture, he said: “They made parliament a forum for looting. We should be vocal about these things.”
Badiul Alam Majumdar, the chief of the electoral system reform commission, Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, Executive director of Media Resources Development Initiative ( MRDI) Hasibur and representatives of the NGOs presented their views in the programme.
Chief executives of NGOs have unanimously agreed on the need for improving mindsets within authorities and raising public awareness on a mass level to ensure the RTI Act effectively promote transparency, accountability, and good governance at the roundtable.
Secretaries of Cabinet Division (Coordination and Reform) Mahbub Hossain Khan and ICT Division attended as special guests at the roundtable while Director General of Non Government Organisation Affairs Bureau Saidur Rahman presided over the session.
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