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Human rights and safety of informal economy workers and residents of informal settlements
Canadian Labour Congress
June 06, 2005

His Excellency
The Honourable Robert G. Mugabe
Office of the President
Private Bag 7700
Causeway
Harare, Zimbabwe
Fax: + 263 4 734 644

Re: Human rights and safety of informal economy workers and residents of informal settlements

Your Excellency:

The Canadian Labour Congress and its affiliates, representing over 3 million working women and men across Canada, is seriously concerned for the human rights and safety of thousands of informal economy workers and residents of informal settlements across Zimbabwe’s towns and cities.

Zimbabwe’s riot police, backed by bulldozers, have flattened or burned down poor people's houses, market stalls and informal businesses throughout the country in the last few weeks. Millions of people are actually targeted for forcible eviction by the government operation called "Operation Murambatsvina" (meaning "drive out the rubbish"). In effect, this operation is destroying the homes or livelihood of most of the country’s population, in an economy where the informal sector employs 80% of the labour force, as a result of the government’s appalling social and economic policies.

"Operation Murambatsvina" reportedly aims to "clean up" urban areas and tackle illegal trade in foreign exchange. But it is targeting indiscriminately all forms of informal trade, including basic food goods and even flowers! The evictions are being carried out without notice and without court orders. During the evictions, police and other members of the security forces are using excessive force, burning homes, destroying property and beating individuals. More than 22 000 people, including traders, gold panners, traffic offenders and beggars have also been arrested.

Although the government has claimed that the traders are unlicensed, lawyers have said that many of those arrested last week had licences. Several designated trading areas authorized by local authorities have also been destroyed despite their legitimate status. The traders have been given no notice and their goods have been destroyed or confiscated. According to several reports, many traders have been beaten during the operation. Police also destroyed homes – leaving the families destitute and sleeping in the open in the cold nights of Zimbabwe’s winter.

In a country experiencing very harsh living conditions for several years already, public anger at the destruction of people’s property and livelihoods is obviously growing. We understand and support the call for peaceful mass action to advocate for policies that sustain and improve poor people’s livelihoods as opposed to destroying their efforts for survival. We expect that this peaceful protest will unfold in the full respect of all participants’ human rights.

The Canadian Labour Congress is joining its voice to those of all concerned Zimbabwean citizens to demand:

• an immediate end to all forced evictions and use of force by police and security officers, and an investigation into the reported use of excessive force by members of these forces;
  
• guaranties for the safety of people who have been forcibly evicted from informal areas, immediate access to shelter, food, clean water and sanitation facilities for those removed from their homes, and full compensation and reparation for the loss of homes and property;
  
• the restoration of social dialogue with civil society organizations representing informal housing dwellers and informal economy workers – including civic groups, community-based organizations, trade unions and human rights organizations – to fight poverty and restore a democratic order.

We wish to remind your government of the ILO resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy adopted at the ILO 90th Session (2002: ILC90-PR25-292), stating that "The informal economy absorbs workers who would otherwise be without work or income, especially in developing countries that have a large and rapidly growing labour force, for example in countries where workers are made redundant following structural adjustment programmes. Most people enter the informal economy not by choice but out of a need to survive. Especially in circumstances of high unemployment, underemployment and poverty, the informal economy has significant job and income generation potential [...]. The informal economy also helps to meet the needs of poor consumers by providing accessible and low-priced goods and services." (Article 6)

Furthermore, "the majority of workers and enterprises in the informal economy produce legal goods and services, albeit sometimes not in conformity with procedural legal requirements, for example where there is non-compliance with registration requirements or immigration formalities. These activities should be distinguished from criminal and illegal activities, such as production and smuggling of illegal drugs, as they are the subject of criminal law, and are not appropriate for regulation or protection under labour or commercial law." (Ibid, Article 5)

Finally, we wish to remind your government that when evictions are absolutely necessary, they must be carried out in full compliance with international human rights law, including with due process, legal protection, redress and appropriate relocation measures.

Sincerely

Kenneth V. Georgetti
President

cc: CLC Officers
CLC Executive Committee
The Honourable Kembo Mohadi, Ministry of Home Affairs
The Honourable Ignatius Chombo, Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing
His Excellency Gabriel Mharadze Machinga, High Commissioner for Zimbabwe
His Excellency H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria and Chairperson of the African Union Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President of Mauritius and Chairperson of SADC
Dr. Kasuka Mutukwa, Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister of CIDA
The Honourable Joe Fontana, Minister of Labour
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
ICFTU African Regional Organization (ICFTU-AFRO)

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