Workshop Report: National Security and Access to Information
On 25 and 26 October 2010, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), in collaboration with the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa (OSF-SA), hosted a conference on national security and access to information in Cape Town, South Africa.
This conference formed part of an international project aimed at developing principles of national security and access to information based on comparative law and practice as well as well-grounded policy arguments being undertaken by the OSJI. The ISS, in association with the FXI, is developing a chapter on South Africa for the study.
At the same time that these international principles are being developed, South Africa is embroiled in a debate on the Protection of Information Bill, which seeks to regulate the classification and declassification of information. Legislation to regulate the classification and declassification of information has been expected in South Africa since the end of the apartheid regime. The current legislation – the Protection of Information Act – dates back to 1982 and the height of the centralised security state. The 1982 Act does not find resonance in a democratic society with constitutional imperatives of openness, transparency and accountability. In this regard, the new Protection of Information Bill is welcomed as a step towards improving access to information by creating restrictions on the types of information that can be classified and controlled, and setting out limits on the periods for which information can be classified.
When this Bill was originally proposed in 2008, there was much public concern about provisions that could infringe upon media freedom and the constitutional right to information. The Bill was withdrawn towards the end of 2008 and a redrafted version has now been presented for debate. On first glance, there are some improvements to the Bill; overall, it is more concise and coherent. However,many of the fundamental issues, brought to the fore by the media and civil-society groups, remain unchanged.
This conference provided a unique opportunity to consider principles and good practices, and then to reflect on how these translate into legislation in light of the Protection of Information Bill. The key outcomes of the conference were:
- Peer review and expert advice on the South Africa country chapter
- Recommendations on the draft principles
- The debate on the Protection of Information Bill was informed by international comparative experiences
- The debate on national security and access to information in South Africa was informed by sound analysis of the current system, and suggestions for a revised system in line with constitutional imperatives and national and international practice were introduced Participating in the conference were representatives of civil-society organisations, academics and current and former practitioners from the state security sector.
Participants benefitted from being able to exchange views across different arms of South African society and from being able to draw on international experience through representatives from the United States, India, Kenya and Ethiopia. The conference programme is provided in Appendix B and the list of participants in Appendix C.
We wish to extend our thanks to all those who travelled to Cape Town to participate in the conference. A special thanks also to current and former government representatives who gave their time and actively participated in the debate. Crafting legislation in this complex area of state activity requires dialogue and partnership, and this conference made a notable contribution to the process in South Africa.
A final word of thanks to our partners and donors: the OSF-SA and the ISS core donors, and particularly the governments of Sweden and the Netherlands, whose funding enabled this project to be undertaken.
We look forward to continuing the discussion on national security and access to information, not only in South Africa but throughout the continent, as informed citizenry is the foundation of democracy and can only exist where the right of access to information is protected and advanced. We hope that this conference was the start of a conversation that will be carried forward for many years to come.
