In the wake of the adoption of Resolution 573, the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) hailed it as a wake-up call and noted that state surveillance was “a massive threat to freedom of expression in the region” and that governments “must be more transparent in deploying surveillance equipment and the information they seek”. [...] Given this, the imposition of the Namibian communications surveillance framework – which comes into full force on 1 April 2024 – on society heightens serious and urgent human rights concerns, specifically around the nature of the threat posed to the constitutionally enshrined right to privacy (Article 13), as well as free expression and media freedom, and by extension and implication also the main. [...] First, it is unusual in that it places the de- cision-making responsibility on the telecommunications In respect of the first clause, it is notable that the NCIS service provider, or more specifically on a specific staff may seek to use interception in respect of any threat or member of the service provider, to decide if an urgent potential threat, where the principle of proportionality request fo. [...] User notification is a key safeguard established in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, the international Neces- sary and Proportionate principles, and many international jurisdictions, including South Africa following the Consti- tutional Court’s judgment in amaBhungane Does the Namibian framework promote and encour- The Namibian framework l. [...] was explicitly and clearly articulated in a media release is- sued by the Ministry of Information, Communication and There is also a notable lack of other oversight measures Technology (MICT) on 26 October 2021, which stated that and ombudsman offices with the power and mandate to the benefit of the regulations on SIM card registration was receive and investigate citizens’ complaints of surveillan.
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- Namibia
