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Report on the HRForum's participation in the 44th session of the ACHPR
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
November 2008

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Background

The Forum took part in the 44th Ordinary Session of the African Commission against a background of gross human rights violations that took place in the country prior to and after the 29 March Harmonised Elections. The Forum's participation in the 44th Session was not only significant in highlighting these human rights abuses but also in lobbying the African Commission and state parties to the African Charter to push for an end to the political impasse and the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies organized the NGO Forum. None of the members of the locally - based Zimbabwean civil society delegation arrived in Abuja in time for the opening of the NGO Forum. This was due to some logistical problems. However, all the participants managed to attend the remaining two days of the session.

The NGO Forum discussed the human rights situation in Africa, with a report presented on each of the regions. It was alarming to note the dire state of human rights and democracy in all the regions of Africa. Highlighted as areas of great concern were the situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Gambia and Zimbabwe among others.

A seminar on Accountability to Gender Equality under the African Union Protocol was held on the second day of the NGO Forum. It was noted that there was a need to take the protocol more seriously as it is by Africans for African women. The need to create awareness and to measure the effectiveness of the implementation on the protocol was also underscored as an important factor in the promotion and protection of the rights of women in Africa.

A panel discussion on the Improved Promotion and Protection of Children's Rights, jointly organized by IHRDA, Plan International and Save the Children was also held. The panelist included the chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, Commissioner Soyata Maiga. Highlighted in this discussion was the need to protect children from harmful cultural and religious practices. A shocking incident of a 13 year old girl who was stoned to death in Somalia under Sharia law, on allegations of committing adultery, was told and served as a reminder of the amount of work that still needs to be done in Africa to protect children from these harmful cultural and religious practices.

The delegates to the NGO Forum later broke into Special Interest groups for more detailed discussions as well as to come up with draft resolutions and recommendations to the African Commission. The Forum delegates took part in the Special Interest group on the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture in Africa and on the African Court. Both groups were merged with other interest groups. The group on torture merged with the group on prisons and prison conditions in Africa and the group on the African Court merged with the group on the International Criminal Court.

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