Outrage over ‘staged’ Spy Bill hearings

THE dust has not yet settled around the controversial ‘Spy Bill’, with National Council members yesterday scrambling to defend their decision to pass the Communications Bill without amendments.

The public, including those who made written and oral submissions during the three-day public hearings convened by the National Council, were outraged when they learnt that the council had intentionally passed the bill without proposed amendments.Most felt betrayed by the NC and said the decision to hold public hearings was a smokescreen, while the House of Review had never intended to make the changes to the bill in the first place.The admission by Jhonny Hakaye, chairperson of the standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and security, to The Namibian that MPs agreed on Wednesday that they would pass the bill without amendments has now exonerated the staff of the National Council who were initially blamed for not preparing the amendments.’NO CHANGES WILL BE MADE’When the Communication Bill was passed by the National Assembly and sent for review to the National Council, the House of Review thought it prudent to put the much-publicised bill out for public comment.However, all the work that went into the public hearings was undone when the National Council ignored recommendations on amendments from their own standing committee and passed the bill unaltered. When asked yesterday why the recommendations of his standing committee were ignored, Hakaye argued that the safeguards proposed by the committee werealready included in laws such as the Anti-terrorism Act, Financial Intelligence Act, the Combating of Organised Crime Act and the Namibian Central Intelligence Act.He also tried to quash accusations that the National Council just rubberstamped the legislation as it had already been passed by the National Assembly.The National Council MPs decided that no amendments would be made to the controversial bill and that it would be passed as is, despite input made during the public hearings and written submissions.The people who had made submissions to the public hearing, including the editor of The Namibian, responded with outrage to yesterday’s report that the NC ‘deliberately’ passed the bill without amendments. ‘The National Council has the right to ignore the various views expressed at the public hearings if it chooses. But what seems strange is the Committee recommended some amendments but then the National Council passed the bill without changes anyway. ‘Otherwise it will discourage organisations and members of the public from participating in future public hearings. There doesn’t seem to be much point in contributing to public hearings if the Executive, in the form of the Minister, has already decided the bill must be passed unchanged even if the National Council has a different view,’ said the Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, Graham Hopwood. Ombudsman John Walters shared Hopwood’s sentiments, adding that Parliament has the right to pass the legislation but would have to bear the responsibility if the constitutionality of the legislation was challenged.’SAD DAY’Hakaye insisted that the public hearings were not a waste of taxpayers’ money, time and effort. ‘I wanted public representation,’ he said. That, according to him, was why he opted for a public hearing. Among the changes proposed by the committee were that Clause 70 (8), which deals with the privacy of individuals, be amended to allow interception only after an order by the Judge President or any other Judge assigned by him. The Editor of The Namibian, Gwen Lister, who made a detailed written submission on the Communications Bill, and who also made an oral presentation before the standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and security, said it was a ‘very sad day for democracy’ to learn that the public hearings had been a staged affair.’I personally commended the National Council for doing what the National Assembly had failed to do, and seek public views on the controversial bill. Now we learn that there was never an intention of changing anything, the public have been taken for a ride by the politicians’.Lister added that a number of companies and individuals went to a lot of trouble to make their views known, both orally and in writing, only to learn later that the effort was fruitless.The Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) yesterday said in a statement that it was ‘horrified, shocked and disappointed’ by the passing of the Communication Bill without any single amendment and regards the passing as a ‘betrayal of the Namibian people’.The statement further read that ‘the NC has proven itself to be a toothless body and a rubber-stamper of decisions taken by the National Assembly. Its action is nothing short of being scandalous.’National Society For Human Rights (NSHR) Director Phil ya Nangoloh also joined those condemning the passing of the bill.tileni@namibian.com.na