The African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) will hear an application against the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) at its 37th Ordinary Session in Gambia next month. The session runs from April 27 to May 11.

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, commonly referred to as AIPPA, was passed by the Parliament of Zimbabwe on 31 January 2002 and signed into law by President Mugabe on 15 March 2002. It may accurately be described as the leading weapon of the government and the ruling ZANU PF party in their ongoing campaign to stifle independent media reporting in Zimbabwe.

Read more about AIPPA in the following report:

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act: two years on - MISA-Zimbabwe, 2004

Applicants in the case against AIPPA at the 37th Session of The African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) are:

• the Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ)
• Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
• the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).