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Interception of Communications Bill Gazetted
MISA-Zimbabwe
May 29, 2006

The Zimbabwean government, in a Government Gazette released on 26 May 2006, has gazetted an Interception of Communications Bill, 2006. The Bill, if passed by the Parliament of Zimbabwe, seeks to make it legal for state agencies to spy and intercept telephone conversations, postal items and e-mail messages of private citizens.

The Bill also seeks to empower the chief of defence intelligence, the director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to intercept telephonic, e-mail and mobile phone messages. The above persons who occupy critical offices in terms of the economic and political security of the state shall be empowered to make representations to the Minister (of Transport and Communications or any other Minister to whom the functions can be assigned by the President) for the interception of specified persons communications.

The Bill further seeks to create a monitoring centre whose function shall be to facilitate authorised interception of communications.

The Bill intends to allow for the issuance of a warrant of interception on reasonable grounds or belief that a serious offence has been or is being or will be committed or that there is a threat to safety or "national security" of the country or the information might be of compelling national economic interests of the country. Such a warrant will be valid for 3 months and can be renewed every month until such a time that the intended interception has been undertaken.

MISA Zimbabwe notes that the gazetting of the Bill is most unfortunate as it comes in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in 2004 which declared unconstitutional Sections 98 and 103 of the Posts and Telecommunications (PTC) Act. These sections of the PTC Act provided for the interception of communications if the President of Zimbabwe in the interests of national security and the maintenance of law and order. This legal challenge was brought to the Supreme Court and won by the Law Society of Zimbabwe on the basis that the aforementioned clauses of the PTC Act violated Sections 18 and 20 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

Section 18 guarantees the right of an accused person to a fair trial while Section 20 guarantees freedom of expression that is defined as the freedom to receive and impart ideas without interference.

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