The
situation in Zimbabwe offers an example of when a FOI law
can be a negative force in society. The Access to Information
and Privacy Protection Act (AIPPA) was signed by President
Mugabe in February 2002. While the title refers to FOI and
privacy and does provide for those rights in the text, the
rights appear to be dormant. The main provisions of the
law give the government extensive powers to control the
media and suppress free speech by requiring the registration
of journalists and prohibiting the "abuse of free expression."
These powers have been widely abused.
•
Undernourished people (% of total population),
2000/03: 44
•
Population with sustainable access to an improved
water source (%), 2002: 83
Source:
UN Development Program, Human Development Reports
Data
On
paper, AIPPA sets out rights and procedures for access that
are similar to other FOI laws around the world. The Zimbabwe
Government told the African Commission on Human Rights that
the procedures were "moulded along the lines of Canada's
laws on the same subject." There has only been one
reported instance of the access to information provision
being used by the opposition party.
The
right of access may be exercised by any citizen or resident
(but not an unregistered media agency or foreign government)
to records held by a public body. Under the rules, the body
must respond to a request in thirty days. There are exemptions
for Cabinet documents and deliberations of local government
bodies, advice given to public bodies, client-attorney privilege,
law-enforcement proceedings, national security, intergovernmental
relations, public safety, commercial information, and privacy.
There is an unusual public-interest disclosure provision
that allows the government to release information even if
there is no request for a variety of reasons, including
matters that threaten public order; the prevention, detection
or suppression of crime; and national security. The law
also includes provisions on access and use of personal information.
The
Act created a Media and Information Commission which has
mostly been functioning to restrict freedom of expression.
Individuals can ask the Commission to review the decisions
or actions of an agency. The Commission can conduct inquiries
into the Act and order release of documents. Appeals can
be made to an administrative court.
The
controversial law was opposed by many governments, NGOs,
media organizations and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom
of Opinion and Expression because of the extreme restrictions
it places on freedom of expression. Nearly all independent
papers have been shut down and many journalists have also
been arrested and jailed under the Act. It was amended again
in January 2005 to allow for the imprisonment for two years
of journalists who had not registered with the Commission.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported
that the passage of the Criminal (Codification and Reform)
Act in June 2005 further narrowed the space within which
journalists could operate. Under the law, Zimbabwean journalists
now risk spending 20 years in jail for reporting on certain
stories, as the new Act introduced harsher penalties than
those provided for under the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA) and the Access Act.
In December 2005, the African Commission on Human and Peoples'
Rights (ACHPR) issued a damning report on the suppression
of fundamental rights through misuse of the Act, as well
as the Public Order and Security Act and the Broadcasting
Services Act (BSA). The ACHPR based many of its findings
on a report provided by the Media Institute of Southern
Africa (MISA), which argued that the Act "is a repressive
piece of legislation enacted primarily to undermine the
right to freedom of expression and stifle the exchange of
ideas and information". Subsequently, the Zimbabwean
Attorney General advised that the Minster for Information
would be reviewing the Act to remove offending sections.
The
Official Secrets Act also sets strict limits on the disclosure
of government information without permission. Like the AIPPA,
it also is used abusively. In January 2005, five officials
were arrested under the OSA for breaching the Act by revealing
the internal disputes of the ruling Zanu PF party to foreign
governments in a case widely seen as an internal power struggle.
[Footnotes
for this section are currently unavailable but will be posted
the week of July 10. All footnotes and references are also
available in the full study, available
here.]
[Footnotes
for this section are currently unavailable but will be posted
the week of July 10. All footnotes and references are also
available in the full study, available
here.]
"POSA
[Public Order and Security Act] makes it an offense
to publish or communicate false statements prejudicial
to the state. Legal experts have criticized this
section saying that it imposes limits on freedom
of expression beyond those permitted by the Constitution.
An extremely broad Official Secrets Act makes
it a crime to divulge any information acquired
in the course of official duties. In addition,
anti defamation laws criminalize libel of both
public and private persons. . . . The Government
stated that the AIPPA [Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act] was intended to improve
public access to government information; however,
the law contains provisions that restrict freedom
of speech and press, and these elements of the
law were the ones the Government most enforced."
Civil
Society, Public Information and Media (rating 1-100):
58 (Very Weak)
Subcategory:
Access to Information Law (rating 1-100):
69 (Weak)
The
media is subjected to worse controls through the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA), which severely restricts the operations
of independent media. It requires that all media
houses be registered and their journalists be
accredited through the state-created Media and
Information Commission
(MIC). Any media house, magazine, or newspaper
that fails to register is banished from publishing.
Journalists not accredited by the MIC are not
allowed to operate in Zimbabwe. Several newspapers
and journalists have been prosecuted for violating
the AIPPA. The charges have ranged from “publication
of falsehoods” to allowing unaccredited
journalists to write articles that appeared in
these newspapers.
1)
Voice and Accountability: -1.48
2) Political Instability and Violence: -1.86
3) Government Effectiveness: -1.20
4) Regulatory Burden: -2.15
5) Rule of Law: -1.53
6) Control of Corruption: -1.01
