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Zimbabwe's human rights situation depressing - ACHPR
MISA-Zimbabwe
May 08, 2008

The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) has described the human rights situation in Zimbabwe and Kenya as depressing.

This was said by Commissioner Angela Melo, acting Chairperson of the ACHPR during the opening ceremony of the 43rd Ordinary Session of the Commission which kicked-off in Ezulwini Valley, Swaziland on 7 May 2008.

Commissioner Melo also expressed concern over risks faced by journalists and the treatment they receive from governments which are hostile to democracy. "Journalists are being arrested, detained, tortured and at times even killed on the continent," she said.

She called on state parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights to respect and protect the rights of all Africans as enshrined in the African Charter. Article 9 of the African Charter protects the right to freedom of expression.

Speaking on behalf of participants from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) during the same occasion, the Executive Director of the Gambian based African Centre for Human Rights, Hannah Forster, called on the ACHPR to pay special attention to the situation in Zimbabwe which she described as a recipe for disaster.

"Zimbabwe continues to amaze Africa and the world and consequently did not escape the attention of the forum," said Forster.

Forster said the ACHPR should encourage the government of Zimbabwe to implement the 2002 ACHPR's fact finding mission recommendations as well as to leave up to its standards as provided in regional and international instruments to which Zimbabwe is a party. Zimbabwe is a signatory to the International Declaration of Human Rights (IDHR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights among others.

Regarding the recently declared election run-off between President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, said the ACHPR should request the African Union (AU) to immediately constitute a fact finding mission to Zimbabwe comprising, among others, the ACHPR Special Rapportuers on Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Expression and the Access to Information, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons - to be deployed to investigate reported cases of politically motivated violence.

"Respect for the right to freedom of expression continues to be a challenge in our continent particularly in Angola, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe," said Forster.

She expressed deep concern over the arrest and detention of journalists from these and other countries and called for the immediate intervention of the ACHPR to request for the release of one journalist, Moussa Kaka from Niger who is a correspondent for Radio France International who has been languishing in prison for the past seven months.

Swaziland's Prime Minster Absalom Themba Dlamini officially opened the session and emphasized on the respect of human rights as a hallmark of justice, development and peace.

Meanwhile, the NGO forum which met prior to the commencement of the ACHPR session adopted a resolution on the current situation in Zimbabwe. The resolution called on the ACHPR to request the authorities in Zimbabwe to immediately cease all forms of political violence in Zimbabwe being perpetrated, especially local community levels, by all state actors and non-state actors acting with the acquiescence of the state.

The forum also requested for the immediate issuance of public statements by the commanders of all security forces and law enforcement agents (military, police, prisons and intelligence services) and relevant ministers denouncing violence, instructing their subordinates to cease all violence and assuring voters that they will be protected regardless of political affiliation.

The forum also took note of the fact that the UN Human Rights Council had just finished a session in Geneva 8 March 2008 and that the grave situation in Zimbabwe did not feature prominently on the Council's agenda. The forum recommended that the UN Human Rights Council considers holding a special session on Zimbabwe to avert what the UN Human Rights Commissioner has rightly identified as potential disaster unfolding in Zimbabwe.

The 43rd ordinary session of the Commission will run up to 22 May 2008. During that time, the Commission is expected to deliver its decision on the matter taken before it by MISA-Zimbabwe together with the Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ) and others on certain sections of the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which MISA-Zimbabwe and other complainants allege violate the African Charter.

Visit the MISA-Zimbabwe fact sheet

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