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Amnesty International's concerns at the 56th session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Zimbabwe extract
Amnesty International
AI Index: IOR 41/060/2005
October 03, 2005

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGIOR410602005?open&of=ENG-ZWE

Introduction

Around the world Amnesty International continues to document serious violations of the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The reluctance of states to provide access to procedures and effective protection to individuals who are forced to leave their homes and places of origin remains of concern to the organization. As an observer at the 56th session of the Executive Committee (EXCOM) of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Amnesty International takes the opportunity to present its concerns on some of the major contemporary challenges in international refugee protection.

Amnesty International reminds the members and observers of the EXCOM and the UNHCR that the purpose of international protection is fundamentally to enable a refugee to have access to and to enjoy full respect for her human rights, including through the principle of non-refoulement. However, an unbalanced focus by the international community on refugee numbers and statistics frequently downplays and obscures the human rights of the human beings behind these figures; including when, in the words of the Note on International Protection(1), ""some politicians and elements of the media play on xenophobic fears and [seek] to reduce asylum-seekers and refugees to statistics which must be kept down.""

While much is made of the large numbers of refugees returning, or being expected to return, to their country of origin; such as for example in the case of Afghanistan or Sudan, the mere fact of the return of large numbers does not in itself guarantee that the return is sustainable and is taking place in safety and dignity. Nor does such return guarantee that the individual returnee will be protected; including being able to work, to educate her children, to be free from gender-based violence. Equally, while searching for a durable solution, the plight of the individual refugee and her protection needs must remain at the centre of any response. Rushing to achieve solutions which are unlikely to prove durable in the long term or to place refugees at risk must be avoided, by host states and by the international community, and it is also necessary to ensure that solutions are not imposed on individuals.

In this document, Amnesty International sets out four thematic areas that are of pressing concern to the organization, illustrated by specific situations in countries that the organisation has either visited or engaged in research and advocacy in the period since the last meeting of EXCOM. These thematic areas are; protection from refoulement, access to procedures, access to solutions, and protection of IDPs.

1. Protection from refoulement

""Reaffirms the fundamental importance of the observance of the principle of non-refoulement . . . of persons who may be subjected to persecution if returned to their country of origin irrespective of whether they have been formally identified as refugees.""(2)

.....

2. Access to procedures

""Some countries continue to penalize asylum-seekers for unauthorized entry and to detain them, often for lengthy periods, and sometimes on a mandatory basis. Such practices prejudice fair process, as they can diminish access to legal assistance and interpretation services, and may exacerbate prior trauma . . . In many States, asylum seekers and refugees who have gained entry do not have valid identity documents and are vulnerable to harassment, arrest, detention and deportation ""(8)

....

3. Access to solutions

""The ultimate goal of international protection is to achieve a durable solution for refugees.""(11)

....

4. Protection of IDPs

""We want to be predictably engaged in situations of internal displacement""(28)

While much has been made of the fact that the number of refugees of concern to UNHCR has declined in the last year, it is of concern that similar focus has not been placed on the spiralling numbers of IDPs. The Note on Intetrnational Protection indicates that, during the last year, there was an increase of nearly 2 million persons of concern to UNHCR, most of whom were IDPs. To this figure can be added the substantial number of persons who do not currently fall under UNHCR's mandate. There are now roughly 25 million IDPs in the world.(29)

Amnesty International welcomes UNHCR's recent ""predisposition"" to involve itself in IDP situations where such involvement is appropriate, recognising the agency's unique expertise in dealing with situations of displacement. The recent developments, including the system of ""clusters"" recently discussed in the context of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which aim to revitalise the international response to situations of internal displacement are similarly welcome. UNHCR must be vigilant to ensure, however, that adequate staffing and training arrangements are put in place to ensure an adequate response to IDP situations in which it is involved, including its involvement as ""cluster lead"" on global issues of IDP protection, emergency shelter and camp coordination. It must also be assured that UNHCR's involvement in IDP situations does not materially affect its ability to deliver on its core refugee protection mandate. In addition, Amnesty International is of the view that the response of the international community to internal displacement, regardless of which cluster such response is organized within, must be firmly premised on international human rights law and standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

The organisation calls on the international community, including states represented at EXCOM, to ensure that no IDP who has been forced to flee her home or village of origin is left in a protection vacuum, held hostage to bureacratic inertia or gaps in inter-agency coordination, and unable to access a solution to her plight. Ultimately, however, it must be recognized that the primary duty and responsibility for ensuring protection of and humanitarian assistance to IDPs lies with the state in which its nationals are displaced.

4.1 Human rights violations on a massive scale: Operation Mrambatsvina -the case of IDPs in Zimbabwe

In May 2005 the government of Zimbabwe embarked on Operation Murambatsvina, a programme of mass forced evictions and demolition of homes and informal livelihoods. The Operation, which was carried out in winter and against a backdrop of severe food shortages, targeted urban areas countrywide. In a report released on 22 July 2005 the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the UN, Mrs Anna Tibaijuka, estimated that some 700,000 people lost their homes, their livelihoods, or both during the operation.(30)

Operation Murambatsvina has resulted in human rights violations on a massive scale in Zimbabwe. Moreover, the operation took place in a context of a longer-term failure of the government of Zimbabwe to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.The mass evictions in Zimbabwe were carried out without notice, court orders, due process, legal protection, redress or appropriate relocation measures, in violation of Zimbabwe's obligations under international human rights law.(31) While the evictions themselves constitute a grave violation of human rights, Amnesty International also has serious concerns about further violations of human rights in the wake of the evictions.

Massive internal displacement and forcible relocation of people to rural areas without shelter, food, water or access to health care or sanitation

Amnesty International is concerned that Operation Murambatsvina has resulted in enormous internal displacement of people and, as the UN has stated, a ""humanitarian crisis of immense proportions"". Initially the majority of those evicted remained outside without shelter, crowded into remaining houses with family or friends, or received shelter in churches. In numerous cases people were forcibly put on police or government trucks and taken to rural areas. In the weeks after the evictions began, homeless and destitute urban people began returning spontaneously to the rural areas in search of help from relatives.

Since the start of Operation Murambatsvina the police and government authorities have stated publicly that people should ""return to their rural areas"". This has been despite an acknowledged poor harvest and severe food shortages in the rural areas. Amnesty International believes the entire relocation operation constitutes forcible relocation, as forcing people into a situation of displacement through the destruction of their homes and livelihoods is a form of coercion akin to forcing people onto government trucks in order to relocate them.

Information of the situation of those who have returned to the rural areas is scarce. In some cases relatives have taken in displaced persons, but as in the urban areas where the number of inhabitants in a household has swollen, there are serious concerns about the sustainability of the situation. Food shortages are reported to be increasingly severe and IDPs seeking protection in urban areas are not always welcome.(32)

No comprehensive assessment of the present location of those who have lost their homes during Operation Murambatsvina has been undertaken and it seems very unlikely that the government of Zimbabwe would facilitate such an assessment. One NGO estimated that approximately 30 per cent of people had returned to rural areas, but this reflected those that returned to a village. NGOs and churches have also reported finding people living in the bush in makeshift shelters. Some are attempting to ""hide"" from the authorities for fear of being moved again and losing more possessions - they report that they have been living outside since their homes were destroyed, but have been moved on several times.(33) Food and safe water for those IDPs living in small bush camps are scarce and sanitation usually non-existent.Many IDPs remaining in the urban areas also continue to live outside or under extremely inadequate shelter. These include people sleeping outside in gardens, on verandas, etc. It appears that the majority of Operation Murambatsvina victims may remain in the urban areas(34), while a significant minority has been scattered across rural areas countrywide.

Prior to the release of the report of the UN Special Envoy several thousand people were also housed in transit camps or in churches. The transit camps and church-assisted groups, although numbering less than 10,000, were an identifiable concentration of IDPs. Since the release of the UN report they have also been scattered.

People in transit camps: Closure of camps; further relocation and ""dumping"" of people in areas with no shelter or access to food, sanitation or health services; conditions in unofficial camps

According to Amnesty International's information, three so-called transit camps were established in connection with Operation Murambatsvina: Caledonia Farm in Harare (which accommodated some 5,000 people), the Sports Oval in Mutare (which accommodated several hundred people) and Helensvale Farm in Bulawayo (which accommodated some 1,500 - 2,000 people). Conditions at all camps were reported to be extremely poor, with inadequate shelter, food, water and sanitation.(35)

The Harare and Bulawayo camps were swiftly closed in the days following the government of Zimbabwe's receipt of a highly critical UN report on the mass evictions. The Sports Oval had been closed during the UN Special Envoy's visit.(36) IDPs residing in these camps were dumped in small groups in various rural areas, and were forced to seek refuge at District Administrator's offices, business centres, bus stops and police stations, with little or no food, and in the majority of cases, no shelter.

Unofficial camps: Hopley Farm, Harare

Those removed from Caledonia Farm transit camp that had no urban or rural options were taken to Hopley Farm on the outskirts of Harare, where they were joined by other displaced victims of Operation Murambatsvina. The population of Hopley Farm is estimated at several thousand. They were placed there by the government with no shelter, no toilets, no food and inadequate water. The government not only failed to provide for basic needs, but also failed to alert the humanitarian community or the UN in order to ensure that the people received assistance The Hopley population is ""guarded"" by police officers, who initially prevented humanitarian actors from access them. The future of those at Hopley Farm - many of whom are victims of repeated evictions - is unclear.

Amnesty International is aware of another unofficial IDP camp where the government has placed evictees - approximately 28 people are living in a small camp near Cowdray Park in Bulawayo. Unconfirmed reports suggest other such IDP camps may exist in different parts of the country.

Denial of access to humanitarian assistance

Amnesty International considers that where a State arbitrarily denies its consent to humanitarian assistance, when it is unable or unwilling to carry out its obligations to ensure adequate food, water, shelter and medical care, this constitutes a violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Despite the recommendations made in the report of the UN Special Envoy that there should be immediate, full and unfettered access to humanitarian assistance for the victims of the evictions and demolitions, the Zimbabwean authorities continue to obstruct and curtail the humanitarian operations of the UN and NGOs. A UN Flash Appeal to raise funds for humanitarian assistance for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina has been severely delayed reportedly because the government is unhappy with the language and with the role of NGOs in distributing aid. A UN Flash Appeal to raise funds for humanitarian assistance for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina was severely delayed, and subsequently abandoned, reportedly because the government was unhappy with the language and with the role of NGOs in distributing aid.(37) A Common Response Plan was sent to donors on 13 September by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland. Amnesty International is concerned that the absence of a standard formal Appeal may undermine fundraising and therefore limit the assistance that a UN humanitarian program can provide in Zimbabwe.

Humanitarian actors have reported to Amnesty International that while negotiation with the authorities has eventually enabled them to supply food, water and some other relief items they have generally been prevented from providing temporary shelter to those living in the open. NGOs report that the authorities say they do not want people ""to become comfortable, they want them to move back to the rural areas"". Several humanitarian actors also report that the government of Zimbabwe is unwilling to allow tents as they would be too visible a sign of the IDP problem the government is unwilling to acknowledge.

Recommendations

Operation Murambatsvina took place in a context of a longer-term failure of the government of Zimbabwe to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law. Amnesty International believes the government of Zimbabwe must acknowledge and address this wider failure to uphold human rights.

Amnesty International urges the government of Zimbabwe to:

• Fully implement the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in their policy and practice towards IDPs, including ensuring protection of the human rights of IDPs without reservation or discrimination;
• Consistent with UN Guiding Principle No. 25 (2) which provides that ""consent [to accept offers of humanitarian assistance] shall not be arbitrarily withheld, particularly when authorities concerned are unable or unwilling to provide the required humanitarian assistance"" and Zimbabwe's obligations to ensure for persons on its territory freedom from hunger and deprivation, Zimbabwe should immediately make an urgent appeal for humanitarian aid for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina and all other person in Zimbabwe who are in need of food aid and other humanitarian assistance, and guarantee the free and unimpeded passage of international aid;
• Establish conditions, as well as provide the means, for IDPs to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their homes or places of habitual residence, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country, and to facilitate their reintegration or integration;
• Respect the rights of victims of Operation Murambatsvina to an effective remedy, including access to justice, and appropriate reparations which can involve restitution, rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, redress and compensation.

Amnesty International calls on the UN and African Union to:

• Recommend and facilitate an independent observer mission to monitor the humanitarian operation in Zimbabwe the aftermath of Operation Murambatsvina and ensure the protection of IDPs and other vulnerable groups

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(1) UNHCR, Note on International Protection, A/AC.96/1008, note 9, 4 July 2005
(2) EXCOM Conclusion No. 6 (XXVIII), 1977.
(8) UNHCR, Note on International Protection, A/AC.96/1008, note 15 & 12, 4 July 2005
(11) EXCOM Conclusion No. 90 (LII), 2001
(28) UN High Commissioner Guterres in his closing address to UNHCR's Annual Consultations with Non-Governmental Organizations, 29 September 2005.
(29) UNHCR, Note on international protection, A/AC.96/1008, note 37, 4 July 2005
(30) Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, page 32
(31) Zimbabwe is a State Party to ICESCR. General Comments no. 4 (1991) and no. 7 (1997) of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights state that "forced evictions are prima facie incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant and can only be carried out under specific circumstances".
(32) Solidarity Peace Trust, "Hide and Seek": Murambatsvina Part II An account of finding the forcibly displaced in rural Matabeleland, July - September 2005", 20 September 2005
(33) Amnesty International interviews with victims of Operation Murambatsvina, August 2005; Research by Solidarity Peace Trust, September 2005.
(34) Amnesty International interviews with victims of Operation Murambatsvina and NGOs in Zimbabwe, August 2005; Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) & Action Aid International, "A study on the impact of "Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order" in 26 wards of Harare high density housing areas", July 22, 2005. Amnesty International also visited high-density urban suburbs during the day and at night and found evidence of people living and sleeping in gardens and on verandas.
(35) Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe.
(36) When Amnesty International visited the Sport Oval in August a small group of people remained there, living in a large make-shift tent, guarded by police officers.
(37) Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), " ZIMBABWE: Govt won't agree on appeal for victims of cleanup", 29 August 2005

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