Day: October 20, 2021

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SADC Governments Crafting Cyber Laws That Infringe on Citizens, says Professor

A prominent professor studying communication in Namibia says member countries in the 16-nation Southern African Development Community, or SADC, have enacted and drafted cybersecurity laws which infringe on citizens’ freedom of expression. Zimbabwe is one of the southern African nations that critics say has drafted strict cybersecurity laws in the region — awaiting President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s signature.

A professor in Namibia said most cybersecurity laws in the region infringe on the right to privacy and freedom of expression and are in need of revision.

Admire Mare is a professor of communication, journalism and media technology at Namibia University of Science. This week, he published a report examining how basic freedoms should be at the core of policies lawmakers should consider when drafting laws.

“Human rights should be at the center of policy making and drafting of legislation. If you miss that out you may actually end up infringing, curtailing the exercise of some of the basic rights that human beings must be able to [enjoy],” he said.

The report titled “Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Laws in the SADC Region: Implications on Human Rights,” looks at several countries in the region. However, Mare singles out South Africa as one of the few 16-nation member countries with laws taking citizens’ freedoms into account.

Tabani Moyo is the director of the Harare-based Media Institute of Southern Africa, or MISA, an organization with SADC member representatives, where the report was launched. He called on President Mnangagwa to rethink Zimbabwe’s Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill and reverse course from signing the bill into law. The bill was recently passed by parliament and critics say it punishes social media users for minor infractions.

Moyo said the bill, if signed as is, only empowers few people.

“It fails to provide protection for a whistleblower in a comprehensive manner. Secondly, it provides the security forces the power to snoop into our communication through the Cyber Security Center [Zimbabwe’s cybersecurity agency]. Thirdly, it is just impossible to define interference with personal data without [providing] legal oversight from the judiciary,” he said.

Moyo said the bill creates loopholes for authorities to abuse citizens similar to what is happening in Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia.

Human rights advocates say authorities in these countries have routinely used laws to arrest opposition members and curtail their activities. But the bill has some supporters.

Lawyer and information and communications technology expert, Jacob Mutevedzi, praised Zimbabwe’s parliament for passing what he calls a “progressive and commendable cyber statute.”

“Prior to this law [bill awaiting signature to be implemented] the legal framework for cyber security and data protection in Zimbabwe was incoherent and half baked. The country lacked a comprehensive legal framework for the regulation of cybersecurity and data protection. The consolidation of cyber related offences and regulation of data protection under the current statute within a single framework is a welcome development which accords with regional practices,” said Mutevedzi.

Professor Mare, however, said it is also the responsibility of rights organizations like MISA to take action against the cyberlaws endangering journalists and citizens’ rights.

“Strategic litigation — we have seen in different countries — can be an opportunity that can be harnessed. Make use of public interest lawyers and to test the constitutionality of some of these proposed and enacted laws,” said Mare.

Zimbabwe’s government has for long insisted that it needs a tight cyberlaw to deal with what it calls “falsehoods” peddled especially on social media.

Source: Voice of America

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UN says Catastrophic Flooding Causes Devastation in South Sudan

The U.N. refugee agency reports weeks of unrelenting rain and heavy flooding in South Sudan have washed away whole communities and wiped out the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.

Floods are not new to South Sudan. What is new is the frequency and intensity of the flooding. UNHCR representative in South Sudan, Arafat Jamal, describes the current flooding, which has affected more than 700,000 people, as being of near biblical proportions.

“People have lived with flooding for millennia, but they have been able to cope. They have been able to move to higher ground when the floods are there, and then come down when they recede. But when you have a high-level flooding year after year, that destroys the crops and does not allow you to replant. That is when you have got an erosion (in) peoples’ ability to survive,” Jamal expressed.

He points out the present floods have hit at a time when people in South Sudan are facing the triple threat of conflict, COVID-19, and hunger. He says the devastating flooding is expected to continue as the climate crisis intensifies.

He notes Jonglei, Unity, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile are the worst affected states. “I have seen people stranded on islands. I have heard from people who have had to survive by eating grass and roots. And we have also heard of people who have had to walk for 10 days to access dry land. It is also hugely destructive in terms of assets. This is an agricultural country and a country that depends upon its herds of cattle,” Jamal says.

Cattle have also been affected. They are stranded and drowning, mired in the mud and unable to survive. And whole fields of sorghum, mangoes, and millet are destroyed by flooding, he says.

He says the UNHCR together with South Sudan’s government are delivering urgently needed aid to the most vulnerable. That aid includes hygiene items, food, emergency shelter and solar lanterns to provide light.

However, he adds much more assistance is needed and is appealing to the international community to help rebuild the affected communities and restore people’s lives and livelihoods.

Source: Voice of America

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US Charges Leaders of Neo Black Movement of Africa in Internet Scam

The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement Wednesday that an investigation it conducted with the FBI has led to federal charges related to internet scams against seven leaders of the Cape Town Zone of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, also known as “Black Axe.”

An eighth man, who allegedly conspired with the leader of the group, was also charged with federal crimes linked to internet scams stemming from South Africa, the Secret Service said.

The Secret Service statement said the following people were charged wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes in connection with perpetrating romance scams and other illegal schemes perpetrated on victims in the U.S. and other countries between 2011 and 2021 using the internet:

• Perry Osagiede, 52, aka “Lord Sutan Abubakar de 1st,” aka “Rob Nicolella,” aka “Alan Salomon.”

• Enorense Izevbigie, 45, aka “Richy Izevbigie,” aka “Lord Samuel S Nujoma.”

• Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, 37, aka “Lord Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela,” aka “Edosa Franklyn Osagiede,” aka “Dave Hewitt,” aka “Bruce Dupont.”

• Osariemen Eric Clement, 35, aka “Lord Adekunle Ajasi,” aka “Aiden Wilson.”

• Egbe Tony Iyamu, 35, aka “Lord Aminu Kano,” aka “Richard Amall.”

• Collins Owhofasa Otughwor, 37, aka “Lord Jesse Makoko,” aka “Philip Coughlan.”

• Musa Mudashiru, 33, aka “Lord Oba Akenzua.”

All originally from Nigeria, the suspects are charged by superseding indictment with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy spanning from 2011 to 2021. Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Osagiede, Clement, Izevbigie, and Iyamu are also charged with wire fraud. Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Osagiede, Iyamu and Otughwor are charged with aggravated identity theft.

Toritseju Gabriel Otubu, 41, also known as “Andy Richards” and “Ann Petersen” and also originally from Nigeria, was charged in a separate indictment with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering conspiracy, spanning from 2016 to 2021.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig said in the statement that “Americans are too often victimized by criminal organizations located abroad that use the internet to deceive those victims, defraud them of money, and, many times, persuade their victims to wittingly or unwittingly assist in perpetuating the fraudulent schemes.”

“The public should be on guard against schemes like these,” she added. “And, more importantly, anyone thinking of engaging in this kind of criminal conduct should understand that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners will find them and bring them to justice, no matter where they are.”

The statement said: “The wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud charges each carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greatest. The aggravated identity theft charges carry a mandatory term of two years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed on a defendant.”

Source: Voice of America