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Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’
Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa
PART
ENGLISH
11
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
A. Privacy and Surveillance: Measures used to counter terrorism that interfere with privacy (in particular
body searches; house and property searches; bugging; telephone tapping; surveillance of correspondence and metadata; electronic monitoring; use of undercover agents; and receipt, collection,
access, use, storage, maintenance, examination, disclosure, destruction, and intra- and interstate dissemination and sharing of privacy information, including through the use of databases) must be
provided for by law, strictly proportionate with and absolutely necessary for achieving a legitimate
goal, conducted in a manner consistent with human dignity and the right to privacy, and as otherwise
permitted under international human rights law. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful
interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or
her honor and reputation. The legal framework concerning any interference with privacy, as well as
their procedures, should be accessible to the public. Such measures taken shall be subject to judicial
oversight, and there must be the possibility to effectively challenge the lawfulness of these measures
before a court.
Explanatory Note: See, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Human Rights, Terrorism and Counter-terrorism (Fact Sheet No. 32), pg. 45-46; ACHPR,
Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa,
Guideline 3(d). See, also, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 17;
Council of Europe, Guidelines on Human Rights and Fight Against Terrorism, Article 6(1);
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Article 10; and Global Principles on
National Security and the Right to Information (“Global Principles” or “Tshwane Principles”),
Principle 10(E)(1). Components of the right to privacy are also inferred within the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, via the concept of state non-interference, notably in
Articles 8, 10, 11, 12(1), 13(1), 14, and 18. *The Tshwane Principles, issued on 12 June 2013,
reflect international and national law and practice, and were endorsed by, amongst others,
the three special rapporteurs on freedom of expression of the United Nations, African
Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Organisation of American States,
as well as by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights and
the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. On 24 June 2013, the Legal Affairs
and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
unanimously adopted a resolution expressing support for the Principles.