Publishing identities of members of security services, including names of confidential informants and sources, will soon be criminalised under new provisions that will be added to the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, adopted by Cabinet last week.
Cabinet approved seven broad amendments to the law which
make unauthorised private negotiations of a foreign relations nature between
citizens and foreign governments illegal.
Making false statements with the intention of influencing
any dispute between Zimbabwe and a foreign government will also be outlawed. The
proposed amendments seek to broaden criminal acts against the State.
A memorandum on principles of the proposed amendments
tabled in Cabinet by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi
Ziyambi recommending the changes effectively vests negotiations with foreign
governments solely under the exclusive ambit of the State.
Minister Ziyambi told The Sunday Mail that Government had
elected to introduce the changes through amending an already existing law instead
of crafting a new one, which could take longer.
“It is easier (to amend an existing law) because in the
code we already have crimes against the State and this is one of them,” said
Minister Ziyambi.
Legislation to protect the identities of security services
personnel is common in most jurisdictions, including the United States.
The US Congress passed the Intelligence Identities
Protection Act in 1982, which criminalises the unauthorised disclosure of
information that exposes covert US intelligence agents.
The law was passed in response to concerns of members of
the House and Senate Intelligence Committees “about the systematic effort by a
small group of Americans, including some former intelligence agency employees,
to disclose the names of covert intelligence agents”.
The Act prescribes punishment for disclosing the identities
of covert agents with increasing severity according to the level of access to
classified information the offender exploited.
The country could soon have a similarly crafted law once
amendments sail through Parliament and are signed into law by the President.
“In the process of reviewing the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act, it has been further identified that the current provisions do
not cater for the protection from publication of the identity of members the
security services, including informants and sources,” reads the Cabinet
memorandum in part.
“Furthermore, it is proposed that Section 30 be amended to
include the act of publication of the identity of members of the security
services, including that of informants and sources as an offence of causing
disaffection of officials.
“It is further proposed that “informants” and “sources”
also be defined in terms of the Act.”
Some political activists have of late been using social
media to publish the identities of security services personnel to suit their
political agenda.
Justifying the proposed changes in the memorandum, Minister
Ziyambi said the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) only recognises
states as legitimate players in foreign relations and negotiations. He argued
that some private citizens were wilfully misinforming foreign governments in
order to gain self-favour and discredit the Government.
Citizens will, however, not be prohibited from seeking
redress for harm suffered from foreign governments.
Reads the memorandum: “It is proposed that the Act be
amended to include the following provisions which criminalise conduct that
falls within the following broad categories: Unauthorised private negotiations
engaged in by citizens of Zimbabwe with a foreign government which directly or
indirectly relates to the country’s foreign relations and policy with other
sovereign nations.
“The law should be restricted to private negotiations that
impact on the promotion and protection of the national interests of Zimbabwe,
including its foreign policy agenda, but not negotiations by citizens on
matters of purely private commercial interests.”
Provisions of the new law would avoid taking away the
rights of individual citizens seeking redress for harm suffered as a result of
conduct by a foreign sovereign government, its agents or citizens.
Citizen’s involvement in State-level diplomacy, added Minister
Ziyambi, was now a source of chaos to the national interest and undermines the
country’s foreign policy agenda.
“Zimbabwe, as many other countries, has not been spared
from the malaise of isolated citizens or groupings, cooperating or conniving with
certain hostile foreign governments to inflict suffering on its citizens,
Government and generally its national interests.
“These self-appointed individuals are not shy to speak with
indecent haste against their own country on issues of foreign relations without
bothering to verify facts or engage domestic authorities.
“A substantial number wilfully misinform foreign
governments in order to gain self-favour and discredit the Government. . .
“What is absent in our law are specific provisions that prescribe
or criminalise the unauthorised communication or negotiation by private
citizens with foreign sovereign governments that have a direct or indirect
implication on Zimbabwe’s foreign relations and policy.”
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs chairperson Mr Misheck Mataranyika said the law will
engender patriotism. “It is a delayed law, honestly, because it is an inherent
thing that everyone should be patriotic to their country,” said Mr Mataranyika.
“If someone calls for the imposition of sanctions then they
should be punished accordingly.”
Having noted the diplomatic chaos that comes with private
citizens having unauthorised negotiations with foreign governments, the US
government passed the Logan Act in 1799.
It specifically prohibits citizens from negotiating with
other nations on behalf of the United States without authorisation and makes it
a crime for a citizen to confer with foreign governments against the interests
of the United States.
Several local opposition politicians and prominent civil
society leaders have often been accused of engaging hostile foreign governments
to adopt an antagonistic posture towards Harare.
The United States government unilaterally imposed harsh
economic sanctions on Zimbabwe at the turn of the millennium at the instigation
of leaders in the opposition and civic society. The sanctions, which have
continued to be renewed annually, have wreaked havoc on the country’s economy,
with Zimbabwe now ineligible for balance of payment support and affordable
loans from international finance institutions.
Some opposition leaders have become permanent features at
the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where they constantly campaign
for further sanctions against the country.
Whistleblower website — Wikileaks — has also outed
dalliances between some local politicians and officials at the US embassy in
Harare, with one politician requesting US military intervention in Zimbabwe in
order to facilitate an illegal change of Government. Sunday Mail
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