It has chosen to hold this picket on this date, as this was the original deadline for the parliamentary ad-hoc committee responsible for the Protection of Information Bill, to finalise the proposed bill. Although there have been some minor adjustments to the Bill and the deadline has now been extended, the majority of the organisation's demands around the Secrecy Bill have not been addressed.
It has chosen to picket the Ministry of State Security because it is clear that from the time the Secrecy Bill was tabled in Parliament, it is this Ministry that has been its prime driver and champion. As far as the organisation is aware, this is the first time that there will be such an action outside the Ministry.
The core demand of the campaign is that the Secrecy Bill, in its current form, must be withdrawn and redrafted from scratch, with proper and meaningful public participation. The organisation will continue its struggle with its campaign members and sympathisers across the country to ensure that any Bill reflects the following:
• Limits secrecy to core state bodies in the security sector such as the police, defence and intelligence agencies
• Limits secrecy to strictly defined national security matters and no more. Officials must give reasons for making information secret.
• Does not exempt the intelligence agencies from public scrutiny
• Does not apply penalties for unauthorised disclosure to society at large, only those responsible for keeping secrets
• Ensures that an independent body appointed by parliament, and not the Minister of State Security, should be the arbiter of decisions about what may be made secret
• Does not criminalise the legitimate disclosure of secrets in the public interest.
