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Minister's Speech at the 13th session of the Human Rights Council
Patrick Chinamasa, Ministry of Justice
March 10, 2010

I am honoured to be taking part in the deliberations of the 13th Session of the Human Rights Council. Allow me to congratulate the Council president and express my sincere wish that he will ably lead us in fruitful exchanges.
Our regular meetings here would not be possible without the hard work of distinguished High Commissioner and her dedicated staff. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Even as we say this, we are mindful that errors can be committed and misunderstandings between member states and its august office can cause injury to the promotion and protection of human rights. Be that as it may, we will fervently hope that the office will do its work in a non-selective and non-politicized manner; without fear or favour. Otherwise the office will deserve neither or respect nor cooperation.

The central arena for the discourse on universal human rights is the Human Rights Council, Therefore the Human Rights Council must strive to be more effective, credible and efficient. The upcoming reforms must bridge the already identified gaps and strengthen the identified weaknesses of some of the mechanisms. My country will be a willing and constructive actor in those endeavours to reform.

It is the Zimbabwean government's strong belief that the intergovernmental consultative process in respect of the reforms to be undertaken should be open and transparent in order to promote genuine dialogue and arrive at the desired consensus, thereby addressing the plight of the victims of human rights violations and abuses when ever they occur.

Focus should not be only on civil and political rights at the expense or exclusion of social, economic and cultural rights. The Zimbabwe government is concerned about the traditional bias in favour of civil and political rights. Issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and the right to development should be given their rightful place on the table. Human rights should be treated in a universal and indivisible manner in the spirit of the Vienna Declaration and programme of Action.

We should continue to address all issues of the promotion and protection of human rights. The continued selective naming and shaming of some countries reminiscent of the former commission runs contrary to the spirit of dialogue and cooperation as envisioned in the UPR mechanism. Apparent continued politicization, confrontation and double standards will not be in the interest of anyone.

Mr. President, may this august house once again take note that the Zimbabwe Government strongly supports the Independent Experts and the monitoring mechanisms and procedures of the Human rights council and will fully cooperate with them in good faith.

However cooperation is not a one way process. It is our firm belief that the office holders of those monitoring mechanisms should remain professional and apolitical and completely avoid wading into domestic politics they know little about. They must respect their moral and ethical Code of Conduct. Both the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Procedures should not deliberately distort facts or misinform the public through press releases.

The Zimbabwe government must not be pushed to reach conclusion where it will doubt the integrity of any mandate holder. In this instance I refer to a letter from the Office of the High Commissioner dated 5 November 2009. That letter expressed the unfounded perception that my government did not accept mandate holders. We utterly reject that assertion.

Mr. President, the Zimbabwe government has gone a long way in improving the system and mechanisms related to the promotion and protection of human rights. It has now appointed the following:

• The Zimbabwe Media Commission
• The Zimbabwe Election Commission
• The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission

We hope the office of the High commissioner will work with us and not against us as we continue to work to further the promotion and protection of human rights. No human rights will be served by an adversarial Office.
In conclusion I would lie to express my hope that the intergovernmental consultative process now underway in reviewing the Human Rights Council will achieve common ground leading to realization of balanced reforms.

I thank you Mr President

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