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Govt faces grilling over rights abuses
Augustine Mukaro, The Zimbabwe Independent
May 18, 2007

http://allafrica.com/latest/bydate/?n=16

AS state agents intensify repression of dissenting voices in Zimbabwe, government is being grilled for human rights violations at the 41st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) which opened in Ghana on Wednesday.

Government is due to present its report responding to allegations of rampant human rights violations perpetrated by state agents and recommendations made by the 2002 ACHPR fact-finding mission. It will also have to explain its failure to prosecute those responsible in accordance with the Paris Principles.

Civic groups attending the session said the government report glosses over critical issues which plunged the country into the current economic crisis. They say it fails to acknowledge that any crisis exists.

It evades virtually all the negative incidents that the country went through including the violence currently taking place and that characterised the land invasions and all the three elections held over the past seven years.

"The government report is silent on the widely condemned Operation Murambatsvina, which left over 700 000 people homeless," one civic group said. "The report mentions in passing Operation Garikai without giving any background as why they had to embark on the nationwide house construction programme."

The groups said government is denying all the allegations of human rights abuses and blames external forces for the deterioration of the economy.

It is not taking responsibility for anything, including the demolitions of Murambatsvina and the brutal attacks on the opposition. However, hordes of local and international civic organisations have thronged Ghana to present "shadow" reports that counter the government report.

Civic groups' reports will expose government's unwillingness to uphold its primary responsibility to promote, protect, and fulfil human rights. They seek to pin down government as the leading perpetrator of rights abuses.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) director Irene Petras confirmed that the African NGO Forum adopted a resolution on Zimbabwe, which cited numerous ongoing violations. Petras said the ZLHR would highlight the recent attacks on lawyers and the opposition. She said there has been a lot of solidarity and understanding of the challenges currently facing Zimbabweans.

During a forum prior to the ACHPR session, African NGOs expressed concern over the situation of journalists and freedom of expression activists in Africa, especially in Zimbabwe, Eritrea, the Gambia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Somalia and called upon these and various other African states to respect provisions in the African Charter, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa and their various constitutions on the right to freedom of expression.

On Zimbabwe, the Forum also called upon the government of Zimbabwe to investigate thoroughly all-outstanding issues. "We call upon the government of Zimbabwe to thoroughly investigate all outstanding issues including the bombings of the Daily News printing press and offices of Voice of the People Trust as well as the abduction and murder of freelance cameraperson Edward Chikomba," the resolution said.

There was also emphasis on the government's urgent need to repeal laws which hinder the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa), the Public Order and Security Act (Posa) and the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).

MISA-Zimbabwe Legal Officer Wilbert Mandinde is among the various representatives of NGOs and will present a paper on the state of the media.

At the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa made a presentation on behalf of AU member states, urging them to ratify the protocol on the rights of women in Africa and another establishing the African Court.

Civic groups hope Chinamasa would lead by example and make sure Zimbabwe ratifies both protocols.

ACHPR last year adopted a resolution strongly denouncing Zimbabwe's human rights practices.

The ACHPR's resolution noted its concern over the "continuing deterioration of the human rights situation" in Zimbabwe, and expressed alarm at the number of people displaced by the official clean-up campaign, Operation Murambatsvina, which the government said was aimed at clearing slums and flushing out criminals.

The resolution said the Zimbabwean government should "respect fundamental rights", such as freedom of expression, association and assembly, and repeal or amend "repressive legislation", including Aippa, the BSA and Posa.

The resolution further called upon the government to implement recommendations of the commission's fact-finding mission of June 2002, as well as the recommendations contained in the report by the United Nations Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues of July 2005, and to repeal or amend Constitutional Amendment No 17 and provide an environment conducive to constitutional reform on the basis of fundamental human rights.

The 2002 fact-finding mission recommended that the "activities of units within the ZRP like the Law and Order (unit) that seems to operate under political instructions and without accountability to the ZRP command structures, should be disbanded".

However, these recommendations have not been implemented.

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