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Government the worst human rights abuser
Youth Forum
December 07, 2012

December 10 is International Human Rights Day, a day set aside, every year, to celebrate human rights, highlight a specific issue, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights by everyone everywhere.

The theme for the International Human Rights Day for 2012 is "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"

According to the United Nations (UN), "This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people - youth, women, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, the poor and marginalized - to make their voices heard in public life and be included in political decision-making."

The Youth Forum has always worked for the enjoyment of these rights for the young men and women of Zimbabwe. It is the belief of the Forum that all ordinarily marginalised groups must have their voices heard and have a say in political decision-making.

It is against this background that the Youth Forum deems the current Zimbabwean Government an abuser of human rights, as it has continually failed to include the views and wishes of its people in all important processes.

This can be easily ascertained by the recent lack of involvement of the ordinary Zimbabweans in a key process, constitution-making.

Whilst the constitution making process had people 'participating' in the outreach program, it has become apparently clear that their views have been widely disregarded as the political parties writing the constitution have resorted to negotiations on coming up with the clauses to the country's supreme law. This is the key delinquent with having elected politicians writing a constitution for the general citizenry.

According to Cheryl Saunders of Melbourne Law School, Melbourne, Australia, "An elected body may have legitimacy in its own right to approve and enact the Constitution. But paradoxically, it may not always be sufficiently representative for constitution-making, if its composition relies solely on the ordinary electoral process, drawing on established parties. If the elected body is a regular legislature, moreover, it may prove difficult to rise above ordinary politics"

This has been the case with the Zimbabwean constitution writing process, with parties failing to 'rise above ordinary politics', having to negotiate every clause of the document. This defeats the whole purpose of consultations in the first place.

This reflects serious human rights abuse on the government's part, as the voices of the masses are not 'heard in public life' nor 'included in political decision-making' although the politicians can still claim legitimacy if the constitution passes through the referendum phase, but Cheryl Saunders continues " . . . In theory, ratification by referendum confers a high degree of legitimacy. But a referendum is also a blunt instrument, seeking only approval or rejection. The quality of the Constitution depends on the earlier process, whatever it is. There is a high risk that a referendum outcome will be manipulated by political forces or that votes will be cast by reference to issues that have nothing much to do with the draft Constitution but are instead, for example, a response to populist politics. In any event, a referendum must be coupled with a very effective public information campaign if the outcome is to have a chance of reflecting actual public opinion about the new Constitution."

Zimbabwe seems a textbook example of a country whose referendum will not be influenced by 'the earlier processes but 'manipulated by political forces'. With the way COPAC has been operating, 'a very effective public information campaign' is something beyond comprehension, a near impossibility.

With this year's Human Rights Day focusing on "the rights of all people - youth, women, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, the poor and marginalized - to make their voices heard in public life and be included in political decision-making" and the Zimbabwean government carrying out a skewed process of writing the country's supreme document, the Government becomes the biggest offender when it comes to respecting the rights of people.

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