PESHAWAR: Representatives of different civil society organisations (CSOs) have termed the proposed Prevention of Electronic Crime Bill 2015 against civil liberties, freedom of expression and right to privacy, and called for removal of their reservations about the bill.

Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, Qamar Naseem of Blue Veins, Taimor Kamal of Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network and Zar Ali Musazai of Tribal NGOs Consortium said that the proposed law was vague and needed to be made clear.

Mr Naseem said that the content of the cyber crime bill was in contradiction with the Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). He said that it was duty of the state to guarantee the right to freedom of expression. He said that the freedom of expression and the right to privacy were interrelated.

`The right to privacy is often understood as an essential requirement for the realisation of the right to freedom of expression,` he said.

Mr Naseem said that the CSOs were not opposing this law as Pakistan needed laws to deal with the issue of cyber crimes, but they were in strong disagreement with the vague language of the bill, especially where the definitions were not provided.

This bill, he said, proposed strict punishments and suggested that it should not be moved in haste as it would have drastic negative impact on the internet users and social media and online activism.

Mr Kamal demanded of the government to redraft the bill with consideration of the globally accepted human rights framework so as to ensure protection of fundamental rights.

He asked the government to ensure basic protections for the citizens` rights before enactment of this bill.

Zar All referred to the comments of chairman of the standing committee on information technology and said that through this bill the government wanted to address the propaganda campaigns of extremist groups operating about 3,000 websites in the country.

He said that the government did not need Electronic Crimes Bill, 2015 to close the campaigns of extremist groups through their websites, as this could be done through provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Bureau Report