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Joint
statement on the visit by the UN Human Rights Commissioner to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean Civil Society Organisations
May 21, 2012
We, the Zimbabwe
Civic Society Organisations (CSOs), welcome the historic visit to
Zimbabwe by the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights,
Madam Navanethem Pillay.
We consider the visit by the High Commissioner, at the invitation
of the Government of Zimbabwe, as a good opportunity for her to
meet and interact with the various stakeholders involved in the
promotion and protection of human rights, in order to make an informed
assessment of the situation on the ground and make recommendations
thereafter.
In preparation for the maiden trip by the UN High Commissioner,
more than fifty CSOs from different clusters and from around the
country, led by the legitimate umbrella bodies, organised themselves
and prepared for the scheduled one-and-a-half hour meeting with
Madam Pillay to apprise her on the situation on the ground. All
these plans were at a very advanced stage - with the venue, time
and agenda finalised and communicated with the advance party of
the UN High Commissioner.
It was thus with great shock that we learned that the Government
of Zimbabwe, through the permanent secretary of the Ministry of
Justice and Legal Affairs had ambushed the plans that had been made
and already put in place by CSOs in preparation for the visit by
the High Commissioner. The permanent secretary, David Mangota, had
unilaterally changed the venue of the meeting, moving it to Parliament
building and had invited several other 'organisations'
that are not known to be doing any work on human rights in Zimbabwe.
It was also not lost on the participating CSOs that the venue proposed
by the permanent secretary has been the scene of violence and disturbances
in the past when issues around human rights were discussed. In the
recent past, members of parliament, journalists, human rights defenders
and members of the public have been beaten up and manhandled by
hired thugs in full view of the disinterested police. To date, no
action has been taken to prosecute the known and identified perpetrators.
It is therefore mind-boggling that the permanent secretary has chosen
to have a meeting of this nature at such a venue with its history.
It should be pointed out, at this juncture that the visit by the
UN High Commissioner is meant to be a broad-based, open and transparent
process that enables the UN High Commissioner to independently and
objectively assess and better understand the human rights situation
on the ground and to thereafter make recommendations to all relevant
actors that promote the full enjoyment of human rights for all.
The visit is not meant to be a stage-managed process where state
representatives take the UN High Commissioner through a guided tour
to meet people who give a glorified and sugar-coated account of
the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. It is an opportunity for
self-introspection by everyone - including and especially
the Government of Zimbabwe, which bears the primary responsibility
for promoting and protecting human rights in this country -
something they very often choose to ignore. In this vein the government
ought to allow the UN High Commissioner to meet diverse groups of
people who have an interest in issues of human rights, if the process
is to have credibility and be beneficial to the generality of the
citizens of Zimbabwe. Minister Chinamasa is already on record saying
the government has nothing to hide - so why are they choosing
to suppress interaction between Madam Pillay and credible and trusted
CSOs who have been working on the ground for decades?
We today are here to make it clear that genuine CSOs will not be
commandeered by government to a stage-managed civil society meeting
with the High Commissioner which is organised by the government;
neither will we legitimise a fraudulent exercise meant to give the
UN human rights chief a superficial picture of our country's
human rights situation. We also wonder why government will not allow
us a mere one hour and thirty minutes with the High Commissioner
during a programme that is set to continue for 5 days, and especially
when it does not know what we are going to say. Surely, government
can and is free to organise its own meetings with its preferred
"CSOs" and leave us to execute our mandate independently!
For the record CSOs will convene tomorrow at 11:30 am at the original
venue as communicated to the organisations concerned, in anticipation
of the arrival of the UN Human Rights Commissioner for a fruitful
discussion - one which will definitely not occur at Senate
Chambers in Parliament.
ENDORSED BY;
Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust
Bulawayo Agenda
Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe
Combined
Harare Residents Association
Commercial Farmers Union
Counselling Services
Unit
Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition
Evangelical Fellowship
of Zimbabwe
Gays and Lesbians
of Zimbabwe
General Agriculture
and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe
Law Society of
Zimbabwe
Matabeleland Constitutional Reform Agenda
Media Institute
of Southern Africa
Media Monitoring
Project of Zimbabwe
Musasa Project
National Association
of Non Governmental Organisations
National Association
of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped
National Constitutional
Assembly
National Youth
Development Trust
Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe
Research and Advocacy
Unit
Student Solidarity
Trust
Women and Law
In Southern Africa
Women's
Coalition of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Association
for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender
Zimbabwe Association
of Doctors for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Civic
Education Trust
Zimbabwe Coalition
on Debt and Development
Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions
Zimbabwe Council
of Churches
Zimbabwe Election
Support Network
Zimbabwe Human
Rights Association
Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum
Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights
Zimbabwe
Peace Project
Zimbabwe United Residents Trust
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