Africa-Press – Mozambique. The office of Mozambique’s Ombudsman, Isaque Chande, has submitted to the Constitutional Council (CC), the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, a request for a declaration that the government’s latest regulations restricting the use of telecommunications are unconstitutional.
These regulations have been strongly criticized by civil society bodies because they allow the authorities to shut down the Internet on spurious grounds of “national security”.
Various civil society bodies have warned of the risks of excessive restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information, advocating prudence in the approval of laws and regulations affecting the media and telecommunications.
In a statement, the Ombudsman’s Office explains that its request follows a petition submitted by the prominent NGO, the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), which requested a review of whether the government decree violates the constitution.
“After a full analysis of the arguments presented by that civil society organization, as well as a systematic assessment of the applicable legal and constitutional framework, the Ombudsman’s Office has concluded that the decree in question establishes a regulatory regime for the mass monitoring of electronic communications, indiscriminate data collection, administrative suspension of services, and direct intervention in telecommunications networks”, reads the Ombudsman’s note.
The government’s decree, the document says, also establishes a regulatory regime without provision for effective judicial control and without a basis in enabling parliamentary law, which violates fundamental rights.
“Such restrictions affect, in particular, freedom of expression and information, the right to privacy, and the inviolability of communications, in addition to violating structuring principles of the democratic rule of law, namely the principles of proportionality, legality, and the separation of powers”, reads the note.
According to the Ombudsman, the restriction of fundamental rights also constitutes a serious violation of the constitutional protection of the essential legal positions of citizens, which, in the context of the democratic rule of law, can only be legitimately carried out through a formal law enacted by the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
“By approving this regime through sub-legal means, the government has usurped the exclusive competence of the parliament, in obvious violation of the Constitution of the Republic”, the document reads.
