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Government violating the rights of children
Tererai Karimakwenda, SW Radio Africa
May 05, 2006

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news050506/children050506.htm

Life for children in Zimbabwe is extremely difficult under the ongoing economic and political crisis. The food shortages, deteriorated healthcare and unaffordable school fees have affected children greatly and the government has been accused of neglecting their rights under the constitution and under several conventions that protect these rights. What is even more disturbing is that the government has gone further to punish children when they speak out by joining demonstrations and has also used them to perpetrate violence against the opposition and against their own family members. The youth militia camps that teenagers are forced to join are a good example of this.

As we reported 73 children were arrested in Bulawayo Thursday morning after taking part in a march against school fee increases. They were released later that same day, but the experience of going to jail simply for making a statement about school fees is not easily forgotten. Five young babies remain with their mothers who are still in jail. These children know that many of them will not be returning to school when it resumes next week because the new school fees have been hiked by about 1000 per cent.

Meanwhile also in Bulawayo, at least 29 children are reported to have died last January because of malnutrition related illnesses. A report by the Zimonline news site said statistics compiled by the Bulawayo city council are expected to be tabled for discussion at a full council meeting scheduled for the 10th May. According to Zimonline the council figures show that 14 males and 15 females between zero and four years old died in January due to malnutrition. Four others who died in that period were aged between five and 14. Zimonline said that Bulawayo mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube described the figures as alarming and appealed to churches and donor groups to help prevent further deaths.

Lawyer Tafadzwa Mugabe who works with The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights told us these developments are disturbing. He said the government has an obligation to protect the rights of women, children and basically all its citizens. The lawyer criticised the government for not respecting The Convention on the Rights of Children and the African Convention on the Rights and Welfare of Children. As for the recent arrests and incarceration of mothers with babies, he said children should not be jailed because their parents are accused of wrongdoing. He said to punish them for what they have not done violates their own individual rights, guaranteed in the constitution.

Tafadzwa Mugabe explained that lawyers are grappling with many cases of children who were denied the right to education by being displaced during Operation Murambatsvina. Since the demolitions last year that left nearly a million people homeless, thousands of children have not been able to go back to school.

He said children’s rights to education are guaranteed by the Zimbabwean constitution but they are being denied for political and economic reasons. He said education was once free for all and because of that we had a high literacy rate. But now he sees more and more school age children turning to petty crimes, rape and even murder to survive.

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