Zimbabwe bugging bill heavily criticised at public hearing

By Violet Gonda
31 August 2006

Zimbabwe’s civic organizations, human rights bodies, opposition parties and business communities criticised and urged the government to drop the Interception of Communications Bill 2006, during a public hearing in Harare on Wednesday.

The Mugabe regime wants to bring in a new law that will give the state the authority to snoop or bug phones and intercept internet communications, as well as the monitoring of private mail in the name of protecting “national interest and security.”

Freelance journalist Gift Phiri said the groups from the pro-democracy movement asserted that; “The bill has no place in Zimbabwe. It belongs to the doctrines of fascism and Nazism. They actually say the bill is in contravention of several international statutes that Zimbabwe is signatory to.”

Concerned stakeholders told the parliamentary committee on Transport and Communications – chaired by Robert Mugabe’s nephew Leo - that more extensive debate on the bill’s constitutionality was needed.

In their oral submissions groups such as the Lawyers for Human Rights and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe noted the absence of separation of power as the bill clearly lacks a provision for judicial supervision in its implementation and has no neutral arbitration authority. Under this proposed law an aggrieved person is given a right to appeal to the Minister of Transport and Communications – who is neither independent nor impartial.

Phiri said it was also worrying to see the heavy presence of soldiers, intelligence operatives and police offices who came to defend the bill.
Brigadier General Sango from the Ministry of Defence said the bill was essential as it would enable government to deal with mercenaries and terrorists. The journalist believes that under normal circumstances serving army officers would not come to defend a bill which is before parliament.

The chairperson of the state-appointed Media and Information Commission Dr Tafataona Mahoso was reportedly booed after he also made what was seen as preposterous claims, that the bill was good in light of the foreign aggression against Zimbabwe.

Lawyer Jesse Majome, who is also the Deputy Secretary for Legal and Parliamentary affairs for the Tsvangirai MDC, said: “Unfortunately Dr Mahoso’s address was very long and verbose but very short on specificity. He made references to terrorism but failed to really bring it home to Zimbabwe and referred to the mercenaries whose plane was impounded by the government.”

The lawyer said if those mercenaries can be called terrorists their feared acts of terrorism were not against Zimbabwe. “So one would wonder at the wisdom of sponsoring a bill to counter terrorism in some other West African country somewhere.”

Internet service providers said that if the bill goes through many of them would be forced to shut down and the right to freedom of expression will be even more damaged and compromised.

Phiri said, “There were also reports that probably government has already acquired an arsenal of information and is just trying to bring this bill on board so that it acts on information which it has.”