Outgoing intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils engaged in a last-minute scramble this week to protect his legacy of reform at the intelligence services. Since 2005 the National Intelligence Agency has been in the thick of claims that the Mbeki and Zuma camps abused state institutions in their battle for supremacy.
On Wednesday Kasrils persuaded outgoing president Thabo Mbeki's last Cabinet meeting to release a hard-hitting review of intelligence policy. The report recommends comprehensive reforms of the country's civilian spy agencies, in particular the NIA, the South African Secret Service (SASS) and the National Communications Centre (NCC), responsible for the interception of electronic communication. The report recommends comprehensive reforms of the country's civilian spy agencies, in particular the NIA, the South African Secret Service (SASS) and the National Communications Centre (NCC), responsible for the interception of electronic communication.
The commission, comprising former deputy-minister Joe Matthews, former speaker Frene Ginwala and academic Laurie Nathan, was set up by Kasrils after the "hoax email" saga which led to the sacking of former NIA boss Billy Masetlha. The report, handed to Kasrils on August 7, was held back pending objections by his spy chiefs to some findings. Released on Thursday, it scrupulously avoids trespassing on operational turf, but its recommendations on the policy terrain are uncompromising. The report notes: "We are concerned that NIA's mandate may have politicised the agency, drawn it into the realm of party politics, required it to monitor and investigate legal political activity …" The commission, with the NIA's support, recommends that the mandate should narrow to focus on "terrorism, sabotage, subversion, espionage, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, organised crime and corruption" and large-scale violence and drug trafficking.
Another key finding is that some methods of surveillance currently used are illegal. The report notes that "infiltration of an organisation, physical and electronic surveillance and recruitment of an informant who reports on the private affairs of an individual or organisation ... are not regulated by legislation and are therefore unconstitutional".The commission rejected the recommendation of an earlier internal task team report that "in the hard reality of intelligence operations … it is sometimes impossible to do things by the book.When operating against terrorist threats or organised crime or other clear threats and targets, it is sometimes necessary to 'bend the rules' in order to ensure that the threat is adequately dealt with. This is an operational reality in order to ensure that the real 'nasties' do not get away with their 'nastiness'."
The commission slams this, saying it is "unconstitutional, flouts the rule of law and undermines efforts to develop an institutional culture of respect for the law…
Source: Mail & Guardian
Showing posts with label NCC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCC. Show all posts
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
SADC: Take Action to End Zimbabwe Rights Crisis
Government leaders gathered this week at a summit in Lusaka, Zambia should urgently press Zimbabwe’s government to end its broadscale attack on human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Human Rights Watch called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to deploy human rights monitors to Zimbabwe to assess the situation.
The summit, which takes place on August 16 and 17, 2007 is expected to address the ongoing political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. At an extraordinary summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in March 2007, SADC asked South African president Thabo Mbeki to mediate talks between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mbeki is expected to report back on the progress of the talks in Lusaka.
“SADC members must take strong and effective action to deal with one of the region’s most grave crises – Zimbabwe,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “SADC’s credibility as a real force for change on human rights is on the line here and its leaders should insist on tangible improvements in Zimbabwe.”
Human Rights Watch urged SADC to more explicitly incorporate human rights concerns in the mediation talks and set clear benchmarks for progress within a clear time-frame. The summit should make a public acknowledgement of ongoing human rights problems, Human Rights Watch said, and deploy SADC human rights monitors as an essential first step in protecting Zimbabweans from state brutality.
In the past, SADC has failed to extract concrete commitments on human rights from the government of Zimbabwe. Although serious human rights problems have plagued Zimbabwe for the past seven years, the conclusions issued after SADC’s past summits have failed to adequately reflect these problems. For example, the final communique of the extraordinary summit in Tanzania failed to mention the arrests and beatings of opposition and civil society leaders or the broader human rights situation in Zimbabwe.
The 13-page briefing paper, “A Call to Action: The Crisis in Zimbabwe – SADC’s Human Rights Credibility on the Line,” highlights priority areas of concern on human rights and proposes a number of actions to help tackle the crisis. The government of Zimbabwe has used methods against critics that range from intimidation, threats and harassment to physical attacks and torture. Hundreds of civil society activists – including human rights defenders, independent journalists and members of the political opposition – have been arbitrarily arrested and beaten by police and other security agents.
Police often use unnecessary and lethal force to violently disrupt peaceful protests. Recent examples highlighted in the memorandum include: the arrest and assault in police custody of more than 200 activists from the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) when they attempted to demonstrate against the Constitutional Amendment Bill in Harare on July 25, and the arrest and assault of up to 20 women from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) during peaceful protests in Bulawayo on June 6.
Human Rights Watch called upon SADC to send a clear, visible and unambiguous message from this week’s summit, repudiating the Zimbabwean government’s policy of political repression through laws and the unaccountability of Zimbabwe’s police, army and security forces.
“The political and human rights crisis in Zimbabwe, which threatens to destabilize the whole region, is crying out for urgent and effective leadership,” said Takirambudde.
“Only by addressing the human rights violations in Zimbabwe can SADC hope to nurture a political and economic revival in the country.”
Source: Human Rights Watch
The summit, which takes place on August 16 and 17, 2007 is expected to address the ongoing political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. At an extraordinary summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in March 2007, SADC asked South African president Thabo Mbeki to mediate talks between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mbeki is expected to report back on the progress of the talks in Lusaka.
“SADC members must take strong and effective action to deal with one of the region’s most grave crises – Zimbabwe,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “SADC’s credibility as a real force for change on human rights is on the line here and its leaders should insist on tangible improvements in Zimbabwe.”
Human Rights Watch urged SADC to more explicitly incorporate human rights concerns in the mediation talks and set clear benchmarks for progress within a clear time-frame. The summit should make a public acknowledgement of ongoing human rights problems, Human Rights Watch said, and deploy SADC human rights monitors as an essential first step in protecting Zimbabweans from state brutality.
In the past, SADC has failed to extract concrete commitments on human rights from the government of Zimbabwe. Although serious human rights problems have plagued Zimbabwe for the past seven years, the conclusions issued after SADC’s past summits have failed to adequately reflect these problems. For example, the final communique of the extraordinary summit in Tanzania failed to mention the arrests and beatings of opposition and civil society leaders or the broader human rights situation in Zimbabwe.
The 13-page briefing paper, “A Call to Action: The Crisis in Zimbabwe – SADC’s Human Rights Credibility on the Line,” highlights priority areas of concern on human rights and proposes a number of actions to help tackle the crisis. The government of Zimbabwe has used methods against critics that range from intimidation, threats and harassment to physical attacks and torture. Hundreds of civil society activists – including human rights defenders, independent journalists and members of the political opposition – have been arbitrarily arrested and beaten by police and other security agents.
Police often use unnecessary and lethal force to violently disrupt peaceful protests. Recent examples highlighted in the memorandum include: the arrest and assault in police custody of more than 200 activists from the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) when they attempted to demonstrate against the Constitutional Amendment Bill in Harare on July 25, and the arrest and assault of up to 20 women from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) during peaceful protests in Bulawayo on June 6.
Human Rights Watch called upon SADC to send a clear, visible and unambiguous message from this week’s summit, repudiating the Zimbabwean government’s policy of political repression through laws and the unaccountability of Zimbabwe’s police, army and security forces.
“The political and human rights crisis in Zimbabwe, which threatens to destabilize the whole region, is crying out for urgent and effective leadership,” said Takirambudde.
“Only by addressing the human rights violations in Zimbabwe can SADC hope to nurture a political and economic revival in the country.”
Source: Human Rights Watch
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