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data protection and privacy. Countries will thereforebe expected to amend their cyber security anddata protection laws to bring them in line with theConvention.This will help harmonise the existing legislationdiscussed above with respect to digitalsurveillance. While many of the provisions relatedto the surveillance and investigatory powers of lawenforcement have raised concerns within the privacyand civil liberties communities, there is alsothe potential impact that this harmonisation canhave on the growing use and application of ICTsin business through e‐commerce, and governmentservices through e‐government. The challenge isto strike the balance on the use and application ofthese laws between the need for counter-terrorismmeasures and the imperative the respect to rightsgranted in the constitution.Action stepsWhile close to 90 countries have so far issued dataprotection laws, Ethiopia has not. It is noted abovethat the Information and Communication TechnologyPolicy of 2009, however, clearly recognises theneed, among other cyber-oriented laws, to issue adata protection law. 19 Therefore there is a need forEthiopia to develop a data protection and privacylaw that can harmonise existing laws that affectthese rights.However, as much as establishing the requisitelegal framework, raising public awareness abouthuman rights and fundamental freedoms is verycrucial. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commissionis one stakeholder in this area in Ethiopia. It wasestablished by law with the objective of “educatingthe public with the view to enhance its tradition ofrespect for and demand for the enforcement of humanrights [through the public] acquiring sufficientawareness regarding human rights.” The Commissionneeds to scale up its efforts in an era wherethe human right to privacy is being strongly challengedwith the evolution of new and emergingtechnologies – and new state imperatives, such ascountering terrorism.The laws related to cyber crime and e‐commerceneed to be reviewed, not only to attune them toemerging challenges, but to address the challengesof data protection and privacy in order to build confidenceand trust in the use of ICTs in general andthe internet in particular.19 Yilma, K. (2012, June 5). Op. cit.GambiaCommunications surveillance in the Gambia: Trends and tricksFront Page InternationalDemba Kandehwww.frontpageinternational.wordpress.comIntroductionSurrounded by Senegal on three sides and theAtlantic Ocean to the west, The Gambia is the tiniestcountry in mainland Africa. 1 It is home to 1.8million people with a land mass of about 11,300square kilometres. The majority of the populationare farmers with a literacy rate of about 38%. Sinceindependence from Britain in 1965, The Gambia sofar has had two presidents: Dawda Kairaba Jawara,who led the country to independence and remainedin power until he was overthrown in a “bloodlesscoup” in July 1994, followed by then-Lieutenant YahyaAJJ Jammeh. 2Jammeh’s government criticised Jawara for hisslow economic progress in general, and, in a questto avert what it called “retrogression”, investmentin information and communications technologies(ICTs) was considered key. 3 Given the opportunitypresented by an already relatively good telecommunicationnetwork, the government and the UNDevelopment Programme (UNDP) launched TheGambia’s Internet Initiative project in 1998. 4 Theproject was aimed at opening a gateway to connectThe Gambia to the internet, and to build a nationalbackbone and points of presence (POPs) aroundthe country to provide high-speed internet accessto major centres. It also sought to encourage andnurture competition and private sector participationin internet provision. This programme wasmonitored by a USD 100,000 three-year supportproject. Project assessment reports for the period1998-2002 showed that major developments hadnot just been made in internet connectivity, butthat it “increased ICT investment and start-up operations,creating a context of advanced access and1 History World, History of The Gambia. www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ad472 BBC News, The Gambia country profile. www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-133765173 Status of ICT Access, Usage and Exploitation in The Gambia, FinalReport, September 2007, available at the Gambia National Library.4 NIC Gambia. www.nic.gm/htmlpages/gm-internet.htmtechnological capacity.” 5 However, more than a decadelater, all indications are that those gains werenever consolidated.Policy and political backgroundThe internet and other public utilities are regulatedunder The Gambia Public Utilities RegulatoryAuthority Act 2001. 6 The Act, among other things,called for the creation of a public utilities regulatorybody. Consequently the Public Utilities RegulatoryAuthority (PURA) was established to regulate theactivities of service providers of some public utilitiesin various sectors of the economy. The Act toestablish the authority only came into force towardsthe end of 2003, while PURA was formallyset up a year later, in 2004. The establishment ofPURA was supported by a study on the appropriateregulatory framework for the sector, which includedprivate sector participation, and was funded bythe Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility(PPIAF) through the World Bank. Nevertheless, expertopinion on PURA in the telecoms sector seemsdivided, with many being pessimistic of the body’scapabilities vis à vis its responsibilities. “PURA isnot equipped enough to live up to its challengeof ensuring the proactive and effective implementationof sound policies governing the regulatedsectors, such as telecommunications, among others,in a predictable, equitable and transparentmanner,” said an expert on the sector who preferredanonymity.The government of The Gambia, through theMinistry of Communication Infrastructure and InformationTechnology, pays a lot of attention to ICTsand works toward growth in the sector, most notablywhen it comes to information technologies (IT).The government believes IT can be of great valuein various economic sectors of the country if usedwisely, especially for decision making. However, it isevident that the state is fearful of the consequencesof the free and uninterrupted flow of information,especially through the use of new technologies – a5 Pro-PAG/CUTS Partnership. (2008). Strengthening Constituenciesfor Effective Competition Regimes in Select West African Countries:Preliminary Country Paper (PCP) – The Gambia.6 www.pura.gm128 / Global Information Society Watchgambia / 129