ISLAMABAD: Despite amendments proposed by the Senate Standing Committee on IT, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) continues to pose a threat to fundamental rights, local civil rights organisations said in a joint statement issued on Thursday.

“Every aspect in the law is critical. The overall spirit of the law is obvious, curbing freedom of expression on all information systems, phones and computers,” Aftab Alam, a human rights activist who believes the law hurts citizens’ privacy, said.

As the approved version of the PECB makes its way to the Senate for discussion, local NGOs have urged senators to stand up for civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution and take into consideration amendments suggested by the relevant stakeholders.

The amended version of the proposed law was adopted by the Senate IT committee on Tuesday.

Civil rights activists have argued that amendments proposed by the committee failed to address concerns regarding the violation of human rights that were raised by civil society stakeholders.

Civil rights and IT industry stakeholders who have engaged with legislators since the middle of last year, when the bill was first tabled in the National Assembly, expressed concerns about the draft that has been approved.

Stakeholders had provided detailed input and recommendations, highlighted potential human rights violations and suggested alternatives in line with constitutional provisions as well as international best practices. However, the Ministry of IT repeatedly dismissed these concerns, the statement said.

In their joint statement, the organisations said the recent set of amendments ignore the fundamental concerns raised.

On the contrary, newer and harsher amendments have been added in the approved version.

“We are particularly concerned by the continued inclusion of Section 34, the dilution of real time surveillance processes that contradicts the process defined in Investigation for Fair Trial Act, the subjective description of hate speech and inclusion of an amendment that allows unfettered power to the Federal Investigation Agency, to generate and submit forensic evidence, instead of relying on an independent body as earlier recommended,” the statement said.

The civil rights groups were alarmed that despite their efforts, the bill continued to incorporate provisions that posed a threat to fundamental rights. If passed in its current form, the bill would be detrimental to civil liberties, giving unfettered power to law enforcement agencies and an executive authority to crack down and criminalise free speech online.

“In section 45, an investigating officer can go through the information system of a person such as mobile phone or laptop, which is an invasion of his/her privacy. Similarly, the government can declare anything posted by users on social media objectionable without first listening to their side of the story,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016