Civic Space Case-Tracker

On  January 12, 2019, the Zimbabwe president announced a fuel price increase of 150 percent in the country, which provoked public debate and dissatisfaction. Two days later, on January 14, 2019, violent protests erupted, culminating in deaths and over 200 arrests. 

In response to the protests and with the goal of cracking down on civic space in the country, the Zimbabwe government issued directives to silence the voices of the population that were using social media platforms to criticize the situation. From January 15 to 18, 2019, internet services were completely suspended in Zimbabwe in terms of a Warrant under section 6(2) of the Interceptions of Telecommunications Act. This suspension was not followed by a court order that authorized the suspension. 

Two civil society organizations (Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Media Institute of Southern Africa) filed an application before the High Court of Zimbabwe, arguing that there is no legal basis for the The Minister of State in the President’s office responsible for National Security and the Director-General of Intelligence Services to issue the directive. They also  indicated that the order to suspend internet services was too drastic and disproportionate, causing harm to persons through the loss of income and business, as well as hindering their access to vital communication if needed for health reasons. Therefore, the case argued that the suspension violated several provisions of the Constitution relating to freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and freedom of the media and the right to participate in activities.

On January 21, 2019, High Court judge Justice Owen Tagu ruled that the issuer of the directive – the Minister of State in the President’s Office Responsible for National Security – does not have the authority to issue directives regarding the Interception of Communications Act. However, the allegations of human rights violations were not explored by the Court, since the case was won on procedural grounds. Thus, this particular decision did not set a precedent for future cases, but stated that Cabinet Ministers do not have the power to order the interruption of internet services in the country.  

In 2017, the 37-year long authoritarian regime led by President Robert Mugabe ended with a coup d’état/military-assisted transition, which put Emmerson Mnangagwa in power, under the promises of addressing systematic human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. However, the new regime has not only maintained the old practices, but also adopted new approaches to repress protests. Mnangagwa’s presidency was confirmed in the 2018 general elections, which were controversial and resulted in soldiers repressing protesters by firing ammunition. Following the elections, a website by the independent advocacy organization “Zimbabwe Election 2018” was blocked by TelOne, a state-owned network, limiting the access to information.

According to the 2019 Freedom on the Net report, issued by Freedom House, in January 2019 there was a significant crackdown on civic space, particularly regarding internet access. Because social media became a fundamental part of political articulation in the country, becoming a tool to organize protests against the government, authorities blocked several platforms alleging that protesters were being violent and committing crimes. This culminated in a week-long shutdown between January 15 and 21, 2019, with the access only being fully restored on January 24, 2019. 

As a result of the ongoing crackdown on protests, several persons were arrested for their online activities, such as Evan Mawarire, who was charged with incitement of public violence. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 there were new regulations aimed at curbing fake news, but many times resulted in restrictions of freedom of expression. In the same year, a new data protection bill was introduced to parliament, featuring broad loopholes and criminalizing a wide range of online speech. 

In July 2020, new protests took place, prompting the government to throttle internet speeds on TelOne, and arrest online organizers, journalist Hopewell Chin’ono among them. According to an investigation, the Zimbabwean government was identified as a potential client of the surveillance technology company “Circles,” and leaked documents indicated that security sources had surveilled or planned to surveil the communication channels of prominent Zimbabweans, including the former vice president Kembo Mohadi. In December 2021 the government enacted the Cyber and Data Protection Act, which established new protections for personal data and amended provisions of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act. As a result, new criminal penalties were imposed on online speech.

Relevant Links

• Kubatana, The Internet Shutdown: The High Court’s Ruling of 21st January – Court Watch 1 / 2019 (31 January 2019)
• CIPESA, CIPESA and OpenNet Africa Join Public Call Against  Internet Shutdown in Zimbabwe (16 January 2019)

Relevant Documents

• Chamber Application plus Second Respondent’s Notice of Opposition
• Provisional Order