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Remarks on acceptance of American Bar Association 2009 Rule of Law Award
Irene Petras, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
August 01, 2009

http://www.zlhr.org.zw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=124

It gives us great pleasure and it is indeed an honour to be here with you today in Chicago. It is very humbling for our organization - Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights - to have been considered for, let alone now have received, the 2009 ABA Rule of Law Award.

Ladies and Gentlemen, human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe have contributed - and continue to contribute - immensely to the struggle for democratization and observance of the Rule of Law in our country. They are professionals who could well have left the country for greener pastures at the first signs of trouble. They could have turned a blind eye to the abuses which went on - and continue to go on - around them, as a minority of them still, in fact, regrettably do to this day. They could have chosen to view the law as something which is black and white, not something which must be used creatively to claim rights for those vulnerable to attack by the state, or something that must be challenged to prevent persecution and the covering up of abuses.

Instead, human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe have stood steadfast in protecting and promoting the rights of their fellow Zimbabweans and the independence of the legal profession. For their efforts, some have been subjected to character assassination in the state-controlled media, or assaulted by police in peaceful protests against the harassment of the profession. Others have been abducted by youth militias from their offices, beaten and tortured in bases, only to reappear bruised and battered after several days of incommunicado detention. Lawyers have had to deal with threats to their own lives and safety, as well as that of their families and colleagues. Some have been forced into self-imposed exile; others have chosen to remain in Zimbabwe and continue representing their clients whilst moving from one safe house to another. Yet others have been arrested and subjected to malicious prosecutions on spurious charges by state agents who want to silence the voices of those who insist on accountability, transparency, and the right to criticize state policies and actions which impact negatively on the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Zimbabwe.

In March 2008, the people of Zimbabwe voted overwhelmingly in presidential and parliamentary elections for change and renewal. Unfortunately our state institutions were unable to protect the vote and ensure that the will of the people was heard and respected. As a result of political intervention, we now have an inclusive government comprising the three political parties with representation in Parliament in those 2008 elections.

In the Interparty Political Agreement which led to the formation of this inclusive government in February 2009, our leaders undertook to work for an immediate stabilization of the crashing economy and the overwhelming humanitarian crisis. They also undertook to bring an end to the violations of the rights of ordinary Zimbabweans and to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms. They promised that there would be an immediate return to the Rule of Law and a guarantee of the security of all persons. The agreement also acknowledged the need for urgent reform of key institutions such as the electoral commission and institutions of justice delivery (such as the police and the judiciary), and legislative reform, commencing with the drafting of a new constitution and the repeal of repressive media and security legislation.

As Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, we could have sat back, and said that such promises indicate that our work has ended and our services are no longer required. But as all lawyers know, the devil is in the detail of a contract, and words mean nothing without the will to implement the provisions. So, whilst we have seen measurable improvement in relation to economic stabilization, democratization continues to prove a challenge.

Almost 6 months after the agreement came into effect:

• no repressive laws have been repealed or even amended, and they continue to be used selectively to stifle the work of human rights defenders and legitimate political activists;
• these human rights defenders continue to be arrested, detained and persecuted merely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association, or where it is felt that their criticism of state policies and their calls for reform are unpalatable;
• the Zimbabwe Republic Police continues to be abused for the purposes of power retention;
• the office of the Attorney General continues to be manned by an avowed supporter of ZANU-PF and a small group of law officers whose legal ethics and professionalism are subject to scrutiny and who continue to show unwillingness to work in a reformed office which subscribes to accountability, transparency professionalism and justice for all, without fear or favour;
• whilst many magistrates throughout the country have put their lives and safety on the line and delivered professional and considered judgments, a few continue to abuse their office to persecute human rights defenders - the most recent example being the persecution of Members of Parliament belonging to the Movement for Democratic Change to ensure convictions on spurious charges, in efforts to reverse the MDC majority in Parliament

Ladies and Gentlemen, as you can see, the road ahead remains long and difficult. It is not easy to change overnight an entire system which has been so abused, personalized and ravaged over the years. However, the legal profession in Zimbabwe is well aware of its responsibility and obligation to utilize every available opportunity and opening to work towards meaningful and deep-rooted reform and so contribute to a swift return to the Rule of Law and democratization.

For this reason, our organization is leading efforts to advocate for a comprehensive legislative reform agenda. Work is well underway on audits and needs assessments of all the institutions of justice delivery, including the police, the Attorney General's office, the judiciary and the prisons service. Training programmes are being developed for possible engagement with the Justice and Home Affairs Ministries in order to contribute positively to an improvement of the administration of justice and to infuse a renewed culture of respect for human rights in those individuals whose mandate and obligation is to ensure the safety and freedoms of all the people of Zimbabwe.

These institutions ideally exist to serve the people, and reform will be futile if it does not benefit wider society. Whilst reform is ongoing, we remain mindful as an organization of our obligation to ensure that the voices of all the victims we have represented over the years are heard and respected.

Those who have been - and continue to be - victims of, and who have survived, grave human rights violations must be recognized and they must be assisted to meaningfully achieve redress and contribute to a new era of constitutionalism and accountability in Zimbabwe. We are mindful of our responsibility as a legal profession to ensure that all people can meaningfully participate in a truly people-driven national constitution-making process in an informed manner and in a conducive operating environment, and that their participation and views are not glossed over by politicians who may have their own party-political motivations for engaging in this process.

Likewise, when it comes to discussions on the establishment of a national healing mechanism, we believe that our role is not to ascribe solutions which may not be relevant, but to provide a platform for, and amplify the voices of victims and survivors and ensure that their will is heard and respected, whether the calls are for justice, compensation, vetting of state institutions, memorialization or truth-telling. This is the only way to fight impunity and to ensure non-repetition of the violations which have destroyed our country since pre-Independence.

We are well aware of our responsibilities in these areas, and we will remain as tenacious as we have been thus far in our history so as to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe remain at the centre of all transitional and nation-building processes and are their true beneficiaries. We will continue to speak out and hold accountable any person or state institution which fails to recognize the importance of the will of the people in such processes. We will do this without fear or favour, and across the political divide, because our job is not to make friends and ingratiate ourselves with anyone or any political or national office, but to ensure a respect for the Rule of Law and Zimbabwe's national and international legal obligations to its citizens. And if it is our fate to be subjected to the same attacks on the legal profession under a new government, then at least we will remain assured that we are continuing to perform our professional functions and mandate correctly and according to our long-held principles.

We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the huge sacrifices and great efforts of a very dedicated team at ZLHR - the staff, the Board and the general membership. We would also like to acknowledge that without our clients and other beneficiaries, we would never have been in the public eye in the first place. We will continue to do all we can to protect and promote their rights whether in a new era, or in the unfortunate event of a return to outright repression.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to end by reiterating our sincere gratitude for the honour bestowed upon us by the American Bar Association. It encourages us to see that our efforts do not go in vain, and that people are watching, and our peers in the profession are standing with us during these testing times for the legal profession in Zimbabwe. The hopes and plans we have to contribute to reform of the justice delivery system and wider democratization cannot be undertaken alone or in a vacuum, and we appreciate and acknowledge the solidarity and support from the region and internationally. We sincerely hope that our partnerships continue and are strengthened in the future so that we can work together as part of the global legal profession in our endeavours to build a better Zimbabwe for all.

Thank you for your attention.

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