Honourable Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission), Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information and Commissioners of the African Commission.
Paradigm Initiative (PIN) congratulates the African Commission on the 20th Anniversary of the Special Mechanism on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information. We acknowledge and celebrate the progressive strides towards a digital rights-respecting continent through the adoption of the 2019 Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa and Resolutions 473, 522, 573, and 580 on Artificial Intelligence, online gender-based violence, targeted mass surveillance, and internet shutdowns, respectively.
Despite these meaningful strides, compliance by some African States regarding Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) remains a pending issue articulated in PIN’s Londa report on the state of digital rights in Africa. Some African states continue to use false news criminal provisions to target the media, cracking down on dissent or expositions of corruption, forcing the media to self-censor.
A journalist and satirical cartoonist, Ashraf Omar, was arrested in Egypt on 22 July 2024 following a published cartoon revealing an alleged plan by the government to sell state assets and was charged under Case No. 1968/ 2024 for joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media, following his forcible disappearance for two days.
In Malawi, a journalist, MacMillan Mhone, was arrested in April 2024 following a story published in August 2023 by an online media platform, Malawi24, alleging that a businessman, Abdul Karim Batatwala, was involved in the use of proxy companies pointing at corruption and circumvention of a court process. He was charged with publishing false news under section 60 of the Penal Code.
PIN notes with concern reprisals in the form of arbitrary arrests of journalists. In Burundi, Sandra Muhoza, a female journalist, was arrested in April 2024 following a Whatsapp post to a group for journalists discussing cases of distribution of machetes to the ruling CNDD-FDD party’s youth league and charged under article 611 of the Criminal Code.
In Niger, the editor of a privately owned newspaper L’Enquêteur, Idrissa Soumana Maïga, was arrested on 25 April 2024 concerning an article alleging the deployment of listening devices in public buildings by Russian agents, a matter of public interest with privacy implications and a potential threat to human rights defenders and the civic space.
With regard to Internet shutdowns, we acknowledge that in Ethiopia, data internet services were restored in 19 cities across Ethiopia’s Amhara region, partially resolving a shutdown that began in August 2023, However, reports indicate incidents of slow internet access requiring further attention to enable meaningful internet access in the region. PIN is concerned about Kenya’s Internet Shutdown on 25 June 2024, occasioned by the government following protests in response to the Finance Bill of 2024, a retrogressive step in Kenya’s human rights record.
As such, we urge the African Commission, in promotion of compliance with Article 9 of the African Charter, to call for the following:
- Egypt, Burundi, Malawi, Niger and other African States with similar practices to refrain from violating media freedoms, taking steps to safeguard the media such as repealing false news provisions, refraining from abusing national security laws to target the media, unwarranted seizure of digital devices and enforced disappearances.
- African states should promote an open internet, refraining from practices of internet shutdowns.