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On 28 and 29 March 2019, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, participated in the third technical drafting meeting of revising the Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (the Declaration). The meeting, held in Mombasa, Kenya, was organised under the auspices of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (Special Rapporteur). The Special Rapporteur is undertaking the initiative to revise the Declaration which was adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) in 2002 against the backdrop of the African Commission Resolution 362, Resolution 350 and Resolution 222. The resolutions gave the Special Rapporteur the mandate to revise the Declaration, include access to information and internet related issues as they apply to article 9 of the Charter.  

Also, the revision of the Declaration is necessitated by developments that have taken place in the context of freedom of expression, access to information and digital rights. The Commission adopted the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa (2013), the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa (2017) and the jurisprudence that has been developed by the Commission on article 9 issues (freedom of expression and access to information). New developments in information and communication technology (ICTs) have significantly transformed the rights to freedom of expression and access to information and there are emerging issues such as privacy and data protection. The African Union has also adopted the Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection.

Prior to this meeting, two meetings were convened in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on 22 April 2018, and in Mombasa, Kenya, from 11-12 October 2018 to provide guidance on the drafting exercise and propose principles for the new Declaration. The technical team comprising freedom of expression, access to information and digital rights advocates reviewed the Draft Declaration compiled by Dr Ololade Shyllon and the Special Rapporteur provided guidance on the subsequent processes prior to the adoption of this instrument. Once the draft has been revised and translated, regional and public consultations will be conducted for further input from stakeholders.

This is part of the work done by the Democracy, Transparency and Digital Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights support to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur that includes the conceptualisation and development of normative instruments on freedom of expression, access to information and digital rights, in line with prevailing international human rights standards. Prof Frans Viljoen, Director of the Centre for Rights and Hlengiwe Dube attended the meeting. The Centre for Human Rights managed the logistics for the workshop together with the Secretariat of the Commission and the Centre for Reproductive Rights.

2019 FoE draft review

Technical team reviews
the draft Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa


For more information, please contact:

Ms Hlengiwe Dube
Project Coordinator: Democracy, Transparency and Digital Rights Unit
hlengiwe.dube@up.ac.za

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