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Zimbabwean
HIV/AIDS & Human Rights Charter
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
May 27, 2006
Read GALZ
response to the ZLHR HIV/AIDS Charter
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Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) spearheaded and facilitated the development
this HIV/AIDS & Human Rights Charter for Zimbabwe. The Charter
is based on nationwide multi-sectoral consultations with various institutions
represented at the provincial and/or national level. This Charter
is not a legally binding document enforceable in court. Instead, it
serves to assert the aspirations of various sectors within our society
that seek to ensure that the rights of People Living with HIV and
AIDS (PLWHA) are respected and upheld. Noteworthy is the fact that
the rights declared in the Charter are rights that the state of Zimbabwe
is obliged to uphold as enshrined in international and regional treaties
that it has signed and/or ratified. The Charter is also a supportive
document that serves to bring human rights to the forefront as enshrined
and guaranteed in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and by international
human rights instruments that include:
- The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
- The International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women
- The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
- The African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights
- The African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
At the domestic
level, the state has instituted pieces of legislation and policies
that seek to protect
and promote human rights, amongst which are:
- The Constitution
of Zimbabwe
- The Sexual
Offences Act
- The Labour
Act
- The Public
Health Act
- The National
HIV/AIDS Policy
- The National
Gender Policy
The Charter therefore
seeks to affirm these rights as they refer particularly to persons
infected and affected by HIV/Aids.
Preamble
Realizing
the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe and noting the effects
of the pandemic on society and on the enjoyment of human rights, Recognizing
that people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS have continued
to be stigmatized and discriminated against in all spheres of life,
And that stigma and discrimination have hindered people living with
and affected by HIV/AIDS from enjoying their human rights and fundamental
freedoms, Recalling that the state is obliged to respect, protect,
fulfill and promote fundamental rights and freedoms in terms of Chapter
III of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Asserting that all human beings
are inherently equal in dignity, rights and freedoms as enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter
on Human and People’s Rights,
Recalling the
United Nations General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS
in which the state committed to enact, strengthen or enforce, as
appropriate, legislation, regulations and other measures to eliminate
all forms of discrimination against, and to ensure the full enjoyment
of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by, people living with
HIV/AIDS and members of vulnerable groups, in particular to ensure
their access to, inter alia, education, inheritance, employment,
health care, social and health services, prevention, support and
treatment, information and legal protection, while respecting their
privacy and confidentiality and develop strategies to combat stigma
and social exclusion connected to the epidemic, develop and accelerate
the implementation of national strategies for women’s empowerment
and promote and protect women’s full enjoyment of all human rights
and the reduction of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS through the
elimination of all forms of discrimination,
Asserting the
importance of a human rights-based approach in the response to HIV/AIDS
and a need for society to be educated and take responsibility in
contributing towards the prevention and amelioration of the impact
of the pandemic, The Charter seeks to highlight the human rights
and fundamental freedoms of people living with and affected by HIV
and AIDS in as far as all human rights are to be enjoyed without
discrimination of any kind.
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