Zimbabwe: Government reintroduces bill on interception of communications

On 3 November, the Government reintroduced the Interception of Communications Bill, which would give broad discretion to the executive to intercept telephone, internet and other communications. The Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC) had expressed concerns that some provisions of the original bill, first introduced in May, and justified as necessary to fight terrorism and organized crime, violated citizens’ right to privacy. The new version of the bill retains some aspects criticized by the PLC, including the admissibility in some cases of evidence obtained by means of an unlawful interception.