(MISA/IFEX) – On 28 May 1998, various civil society organisations rejected the second draft of the Public Order and Security Bill. The bill, which was gazetted in April 1998, will seek to replace the notorious Law and Order (Maintenance) Act of 1960. **Updates IFEX alerts dated 20 February 1998 and 13 November 1997** While the […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 28 May 1998, various civil society organisations rejected
the second draft of the Public Order and Security Bill. The bill, which was
gazetted in April 1998, will seek to replace the notorious Law and Order
(Maintenance) Act of 1960.
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 20 February 1998 and 13 November 1997**
While the various organisations which met on 28 May to discuss the bill
acknowledged that the new version was in several respects an improvement
from the original one, serious concerns raised about the first bill remain
valid. In a four-page comment prepared by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR), it was found that the bill still posed a significant threat
to several fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, speech and
association. The ZLHR document notes that Clause 2 and Clause 11 of the Bill
seek to control political speech through its overly broad definition of a
“subversive statement”. The ZLHR warns that, in terms of the bill, any
strong criticism of the government could be said to be subversive and, as a
result, be criminalised. In addition, the bill criminalises the mere making,
writing or recording of a “subversive” statement, irrespective of whether
this was communicated or not. Clauses 14, 15 and 16, the ZLHR warns,
constitute an undue restriction on freedom of expression and association by
granting too much power to the Regulatory Authority and Magistrates to
restrict or prohibit public gatherings.
The comment prepared by the ZLHR, and which was distributed to all Members
of Parliament ahead of the debate on the bill, was endorsed by the following
organisations: Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace; Faculty of Law;
Federation of Africa Media Women-Zimbabwe Chapter; Law Society of Zimbabwe;
MISA-Zimbabwe; Musasa Project; The National Constitutional Assembly;
Transparency International Zimbabwe; Women’s Action Group; Zimbabwe Council
of Churches; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions; Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights; Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association;
Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network; and Zimrights.
Background Information
Since independence in 1980, the government has promised to repeal the Law
and Order (Maintenance) Act of 1960, which infringed on several personal
freedoms, but had only recently actively taken steps to do something about
it. Towards the end of last year, the government introduced the Public Order
and Security Bill which, in the preamble, referred to the 1960 law as
“draconian”. However, the Bill came under strong criticism from various
human rights organisations in Zimbabwe, who found the Bill heavily flawed in
terms of human rights protection. As a result of the strong criticism, the
government withdrew the bill from Parliament, with the aim of amending it
and tabling it again (see IFEX alerts).