Communiqué of the 1196th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council held on 29 January 2024 on the Common African Position on the Application of International Law to the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Cyberspace.

Abstract

While expressing deep concern over the increasing global cyber threats and attacks, Council underscored that States are under an obligation to combat malicious and criminal conducts in cyberspace by non-State actors and further affirmed that compliance with international law is essential to keeping cyberspace open, secure, stable, accessible, and peaceful. Council adopted the Common African Position on the Application of International Law to the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Cyberspace and decides to refer it to the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union scheduled to take place on 17-18 February 2024 for consideration and endorsement. Member States were encouraged to consider issuing national position statements on the application of international law in cyberspace, in line with the Common African Position on the Application of International Law to the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Cyberspace and further to actively participate in regional and international multilateral forums on the governance of cyberspace, including at the UN. The AU Commission and the Special Rapporteur were encouraged to (i) circulate and promote the Common African Position on the Application of International Law to the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Cyberspace; and (ii) continue to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to Member States on the application of international law in cyberspace. Lastly, AU Member States which are yet to sign, ratify and domesticate the AU Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention) were encouraged to do so.