Bhutan might decriminalize defamation, if required, in the coming years. Foreign minister Dr Tandi Dorji said this while being asked the country’s stand on repealing provisions on defamation.
The UN Human Rights Council’s review meeting held in May this year suggested that Bhutan decriminalize defamation and place it in the civil code.
The foreign minister who led the delegations to the review meeting said the Bhutanese team did not agree to decriminalize defamation.
“On the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendation on decriminalizing defamation, that we have not accepted because it came as a shadow report in which Bhutan is not mandated to respond. But in our own consultations, we feel that such a process would be very long and lengthy and it also requires further consultations and discussions with all stakeholders. So if required, in the coming years we might do it, first with the consultation process,” said Dr Tandi Dorji, the Foreign Minister.
However, the Bhutanese delegations agreed to prevent misuse of defamation laws to unduly constrain freedom of expression both online and offline as recommended by the USA.
“In a sense out of the two, the recommendation made by the USA is accepted by us in which we will try to prevent the misuse. And this we will do closely in consultation with the judiciary to ensure that cases that come up to the court are genuine. So we will ensure that laws are not misused and that people are not taken to court unnecessarily,” Lyonpo added.
During the review meeting, UNESCO noted that defamation and libel were criminal offences under articles 317 and 320 of the Penal Code of Bhutan and that the offences carry a punishment of fines and a maximum of three years of imprisonment.
