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MISA-Zimbabwe
statement to the 40th ordinary session of the
African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights: Banjul,
The Gambia
MISA-Zimbabwe
November 15, 2006
This paper
was presented by Wilbert Pfungwadzashe Mandinde: MISA-Zimbabwe Legal
Officer on 15 November 2006: Banjul: The Gambia
The Media Institute
of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe is grateful, once again, for this opportunity
to address this Commission on the situation of the enjoyment of
the right to freedom of expression in Zimbabwe.
Over the past
six months, Zimbabweans have continued to face various challenges
and experience repression in terms of the enjoyment of the right
to freedom of expression. The arrests of two journalists, Ndamu
Sandu and Godwin Mangudya in two separate incidents, during the
scope of their employment was enough demonstration of the police
and state's ntolerance of media practitioners generally and the
citizens' right to freedom of expression in particular.
On 13 September
2006, the police arrested members of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), a labour movement, as they
attempted to stage a peaceful demonstration on poor working conditions
and demand for the provision of anti-retroviral drugs to the workers
in need. In a typical act of barbarism, the police brutally and
mercilessly assaulted them. To date, most of the demonstrators are
still nursing serious and to some permanent injuries sustained on
that day. As if that was not enough, His Excellency, the President
of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe castigated the labour movement for the
planned demonstration and commended the police for the brutal attack
and torture of the workers. We call upon the Commission to urge
the Zimbabwean Government to allow workers the right to stage peaceful
demonstrations. Collective bargaining without the right to demonstrate
can be equated to collective begging.
In both the
39th and this session, the Zimbabwean Government announced
its intentions of setting up a Human Rights Commission. However,
the continued suppression of peoples' freedoms by the same government
is a clear indication of lack of goodwill by the government. More
so we believe that a human rights commission cannot be set and operate
in an environment replete with repressive legislation as in Zimbabwe.
We urge the Commission to advise the Zimbabwe government to repeal
repressive legislation and come up with conditions amenable to the
enjoyment of human rights by Zimbabweans before coming up with a
human rights commission.
While we congratulate
the Zimbabwean Government on its submission of the combined state
party reports since 1998, we note that the eight-year delay is cause
for concern. We call upon the Commission to urge the Zimbabwe government
and other African States whose reports are outstanding to remedy
the situation by submitting reports timely.
The Parliament
of Zimbabwe is currently discussing the Interception
of Communications Bill, a highly intrusive form of legislation
that is vague, lacks sound justification, invades into the private
lives of citizens, unreasonable in a democratic society and blatantly
unconstitutional. The Commission is requested to urge the government
of Zimbabwe not to pass this legislation, which violates both the
Country's Constitution and the African Charter.
The Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) remains
one of the major hindrances to the development of the media in Zimbabwe.
While acknowledging the need for an access to information law for
the benefit of citizens, MISA notes that in its current form, this
law is contrary to its name and preamble. The shutting down of newspapers
and the arrests of journalists is enough evidence that the law has
nothing positive to offer. As part of its contribution to efforts
to reform the media sector in Zimbabwe, MISA-Zimbabwe consulted
widely with journalists, lawyers and members of civil society and
consolidated their views and concerns to come up with a model Access
to Information Law. The model has since been presented to the Parliament
and two Ministries in Zimbabwe. MISA-Zimbabwe takes this opportunity
to thank the two Ministries which accepted the model and is hopeful
that such a process will help continue the recently started culture
of consultation between the government and the Civic Society Organisations.
Visit the MISA-Zimbabwe
fact
sheet
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