The United Nations (UN) has faulted Botswana for ‘threatening’ and undermining her human rights record.
In a new report titled: “Botswana Common Country Analysis 2020”, the UN notes that in recent years, freedom of association has “come under threat in Botswana due to the overreach of the state security agency, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS).”
“Civil society groups in Botswana have been critical of DISS’ intrusive intelligence methods that undermine basic rights and create a climate of fear. In the past, trade unions, political parties and media organizations all complained about intrusion into their affairs,” the report says.
It says threats to freedom of expression and independent media are cause for concern in a country with a population of two million where critical voices can easily be identified. “However, the 2020 World Press Freedom Index reported that press freedom violations had declined under the current administration. This elevated the country from 44th to 39th of 180 countries.10,” the report says.
While it observes that the improved ranking came after specific pledges were made to improve press freedom after President Mokgweetsi Masisi assumed the Presidency in 2018, the report says “Although the country’s media freedom ranking continues to improve, incidents of violations continue to be reported.”
“In April 2020, President Masisi was accused of using the COVID-19 pandemic to crack down on media and government critics. This followed the passing of the Emergency Powers Act by Parliament. The Emergency Powers Act introduced offences with heavy punishment, including imprisonment of up to five years or a $10,000 fine for anyone publishing information with “the intention to deceive” the public about COVID-19 or measures taken by the government to address the pandemic,” the report says.
According to the report, in enforcing this law, a schoolteacher was arrested for challenging a claim by government that a social worker who had screened law makers in parliament had tested positive for the virus.
“Again, opposition leaders have been arrested and charged under the Penal Code for “degrading and maligning the leadership” after a social media post criticising the president for declaring a lengthy state of emergency “so that he could deal with his political rivals and business competitors,” the report says.
It says the Emergency Powers Act also prohibits journalists from using sources other than the country’s director of health services or the World Health Organization when reporting on Covid-19, imposing a fine of $10,000 or a five-year jail term.
This provision creates an offence that has a potential to create a chilling effect on the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression by individuals and journalists to criticise any measure taken by the government to address the pandemic.
“Equally, the offence that prohibits persons from using the media for any information on Covid-19 without prior permission of the Ministry of Health unduly restricts right to freedom of expression, particularly the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds. The offence is an undue restriction that seeks to control information on Covid-19, which curtails debate and the transmission of information and ideas of all kinds in respect to Covid-19,” the report says.
It adds that this is further compounded by the lack of an access to information law in Botswana. Civil society organizations, however, have worked with opposition parties to draft a Freedom of Information Bill, which remains pending.
The report says freedom of association received a boost in November 2014 following a High Court ruling ordering government to register The Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO), a non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting the rights of sexual minorities. The court said government’s refusal to register LEGABIBO was unlawful because it “violated the applicants’ rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly”. However, the government subsequently appealed against this ruling to the Court of Appeal, the report says.
