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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Typhoid outbreak - Index of articles
Courts
closure and typhoid outbreak - a result of official and criminal
negligence
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
February 11, 2012
Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) expresses its concerns over the closure
of the Harare Magistrates Court on Friday 10 February 2012 following
a suspected typhoid
fever outbreak.
According to
media reports which were verified with and confirmed by court officials,
court sittings were suspended on Friday 10 February 2012 after a
suspected typhoid fever outbreak and prolonged water outages at
the building housing one of the country's "court of
first instance," where matters including those seeking to
protect human rights can be directly brought before the judiciary.
The typhoid
outbreak which is wrecking havoc in most high density suburbs and
the water shortages are a result of official and criminal negligence
that has brought despair to court officials, families, communities
and the nation at large.
The development
is an embarrassing sign of the state of collapse and dire situation
in the country and adds to a numberless list of many state institutions
like hospitals and universities that have been operating without
adequate water among other economic ills facing the country.
The closure
of the court-a vehicle for protecting human rights seriously undermines
the enjoyment of the constitutionally recognized right of protection
of the law for litigants, detainees, and even convicted prisoners
whose matters are on appeal who have to suffer from the consequences
that are not of their making.
Working in such
buildings is a health hazard to magistrates, prosecutors, clerks,
court officials and members of the public who have continued to
be exposed to nearly inhumane conditions that have characterized
Rotten Row court, for a while. The state and indeed government is
obliged to ensure the existence, functioning, efficiency and effectiveness
of such courts and tribunals as the Harare Magistrates Court.
The closure
of the Harare Magistrates Court undermines the rights of lawyers,
detainees and even convicted prisoners whose matters were on appeal
and could not be heard.
It is alarming
and quite unusual for such a preventable and medieval disease to
continue to incommode people in this day and age.
Human health
and quality of life are at the centre of international efforts to
develop sustainable communities and countries. Good health throughout
the life-span of every man, woman and child are fundamental to ensuring
that people of all ages are able to participate fully in the social,
economic and political processes of their communities and country.
ZLHR holds the
coalition government, and through it the Harare City Council and
the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), accountable for the
typhoid fever epidemic and the disruption to court business as they
have failed to provide basic health services, medical treatment
and services, clean running water and sanitary surrounds to people
in high density suburbs (and other areas) so as to adequately respond
to and contain the spread of the avoidable disease. The failure
by the government to swiftly respond to the typhoid epidemic is
an unacceptable failure of leadership.
These wanton
infections are intolerable and shameful, and the State's failure
is merely a replication of other high level failures, where the
citizenry has now been disenfranchised of almost all their basic
human rights.
ZLHR reminds
the government that human rights relating to health are set out
in many international and regional human rights instruments such
as Article 25 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights amongst others and,
as a State Party to these, the government of Zimbabwe is obliged
to ensure the realization of these rights. Failure by the government
to guarantee and respect citizens' right to health thus amounts
to a serious violation of both local and international law.
It is therefore
essential to take a holistic approach to the realization of the
right to health whereby both prevention and care are placed at the
centre of the health delivery system in the country.
In the circumstances,
ZLHR calls upon the government including local authorities as well
as ZINWA to:
- Immediately
take swift and visible corrective measures to prevent further
outbreaks of typhoid, contain the epidemic, and prevent further
outbreaks.
- Take urgent
action to ensure that all affected people obtain urgent medical
assistance and treatment.
- Provide clean
running water and sanitary environs to affected communities and
others at risk to halt the spread of the disease.
- ZLHR calls
upon the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
and relevant authorities to ensure that the Harare Magistrates
Court and indeed all courts in Zimbabwe are given all the necessary
tools and essentials to enable them to function properly, timeously
and effectively in exercising their judicial authority.
Visit the ZLHR
fact
sheet
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