BY VANESSA GONYE
THE Southern African Editors’ Forum (SAEF) has expressed concern over Botswana’s proposed Criminal Procedure and Evidence Bill which is currently before Parliament, saying if enacted, it would suppress freedom of expression.
“SAEF joins the Botswana Editors’ Forum and the African Editors Forum in calling on President Mokgweetsi Masisi to withdraw the Bill before Parliament, and allow for wider public consultations as it is bound to have serious ramifications not only on the people of Botswana, but the whole Sadc (Southern African Development Community) region because of clear and known interconnectedness between the people and institutions of the countries,” SAEF said in a statement yesterday.
SAEF described the Bill in its current format as “dangerous” as it forces the disclosure of information by citizens, including journalists, and allows intelligence officers to use fake identities while providing them immunity from prosecution.
“A lack of oversight on the intelligence operatives is itself frightening, especially in a country we had come to regard as a beacon of good governance. The Bill will also introduce a culture of arrogance and willy-nilly condemnation and execution of innocent citizens reminiscent of the colonial and apartheid era.
“What Botswana is advocating in the Bill is against the ethos and spirit of the Sadc Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport to which Botswana and 15 other member States in the region are now signatories.”
SAEF said if passed, the piece of legislation would negate the gains made regionally, continentally and globally, as well as the Windhoek Declaration on pluralistic African Press.
The group also highlighted that the absence of freedom of expression had become commonplace in most African countries, adding that it was a worrying trend.
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“Additionally, we call on the United Nations Human and Peoples Rights Commission, through the Office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information and also the African Union Commission to take a stand and sanction Botswana,” SAEF said.
It urged Botswana to craft a freedom of information law to enable the media and citizens to access information and hold authorities accountable.
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