Human rights in Zimbabwe

There are widespread reports of systematic and escalating violations of human rights in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe administration and his party, ZANU-PF.

According to human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch the government of Zimbabwe violates the rights to shelter, food, freedom of movement and residence, freedom of assembly and the protection of the law. There are assaults on the media, the political opposition, civil society activists, and human rights defenders.

Opposition gatherings are frequently the subject of brutal attacks by the police force, such as the crackdown on a March 11, 2007 Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally. In the events, party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and 49 other opposition activists were arrested and severely beaten by the police. Edward Chikombo, a journalist who sent images of the beatings to foreign media, was abducted and murdered a few days later. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/zimbabwe-journalist-murdered-over-leaked-tsvangirai-pictures-443267.html "Zimbabwe journalist murdered 'over leaked Tsvangirai pictures'"] , "The Independent", April 4, 2007] After his release, Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC that he suffered head injuries and blows to the arms, knees and back, and that he lost a significant amount of blood. The police action was strongly condemned by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the European Union and the United States.cite web|title=Unbowed Tsvangirai urges defiance|author=BBC|date=2007-03-14|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6449691.stm|accessdate=2007-03-14] While noting that the activists had suffered injuries, but not mentioning the cause of them, [cite web|title=Opposition protesters’ case not heard|author=The Herald, Zimbabwe|date=2007-03-14|url=http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=16333&cat=1|accessdate=2007-03-14] the Zimbabwean government-controlled daily newspaper "The Herald" claimed the police had intervened after demonstrators "ran amok looting shops, destroying property, mugging civilians, and assaulting police officers and innocent members of the public". The newspaper also argued that the opposition had been "wilfully violating the ban on political rallies". [cite web|title=Violence flares in Glen View|author=The Herald, Zimbabwe|date=2007-03-14|url=http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=16333&cat=1|accessdate=2007-03-14]

Police repression

There is a widespread consensus among human rights organizations that systematic violations of the right of personal freedom and integrity are frequent in Zimbabwe, especially towards suspected members of the political opposition. The violations are perpetrated by government supporters as well as law enforcement agencies, and include assaults, torture, death threats, kidnappings and unlawful arrests and detentions.

In 1999, three Americans - John Dixon, Gary Blanchard and Joseph Pettijohn - claimed to have been tortured after their arrest. The trial judge accepted their evidence of torture and gave them lenient sentences after their conviction for weapons offences.

In the same year, Robert Mugabe condemned judges at Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court who asked him to comment on the illegal arrest and torture, by state security services, of two journalists, Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto.

The law enforcement agencies are a major source of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. According to Human Rights Watch there have been a growing number of cases in which police have assaulted and tortured opposition supporters and civil society activists.cite web|title=World Report 2007: Zimbabwe|author=Human Rights Watch|url=http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/zimbab14720.htm|accessdate=2007-03-14] One notable case was the arrest and subsequent beatings of a group of trade union activists, including the president and secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, [ [http://www.satawu.co.za/Resolutions2006.doc Emergency Resolution on Zimbabwe] of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union] at Matapi police station, following peaceful protests on September 13, 2006. The unionists were initially denied medical and juridical assistance.

Another similar case was the arrest of student activist leader Promise Mkwanazi on May 29, 2006. Mkwanazi was detained at a police station in Bindura for five days without charge. During that time he was repeatedly stripped, shackled and beaten with batons by policemen, who accused him of trying to overthrow the government. From 2001 to September 2006 the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has recorded over 1200 cases of human rights violations by the law enforcement agencies, including 363 cases of torture, 516 cases of assault, 58 cases of death threats, 399 cases of unlawful arrest and 451 cases of unlawful detention. Many of these incidents include multiple victims.cite web|title=Who guards the guards? Violations by Law Enforcement Agencies in Zimbabwe, 2000 to 2006|pages=page 48|author=Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum|url=http://www.hrforumzim.com/special_hrru/Who_guards_the_guards.pdf|format=pdf|accessdate=2007-03-14] The organization finds that the law enforcement agencies are encouraged to perpetrate abuses by statements made by high-ranking members of the ruling party ZANU-PF.

The United States Department of State reported in a Public Announcement dated July 12, 2007 that the situation in Zimbabwe is continuing to deteriorate as public protest against Mugabe and the ZANU-PF increases. Recent government price fixing on all local consumer goods has led to major shortages of basic necessities, leading to violence between desperate citizens and government forces seeking to enforce the restrictions and quell disruptions. The government has continued to reiterate its mandate to eliminate any dissent or opposition to its policies "by any means necessary", including lethal force. It has backed up this statement with random and indiscriminate acts of state-sponsored violence from various security forces on anyone perceived to be an opponent; these attacks often occur without provocation or warning as a form of state terrorism. cite web|title=Zimbabwe Public Announcement (July 12, 2007)|author=United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs |url=http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3234.html|format=html|accessdate=2007-08-08]

Child soldiers

The ZANU-PF trains and sponsors a National Youth Service, known colloquially as the "Green Bombers." The U.S. Department of State describes the Youth Service as a group of undisciplined child-soldiers used by the ruling government to suppress political dissent through overt acts of state terrorism. They are responsible for many of acts of politically-motivated violence and are frequently under the influence of government-issued narcotics.

Operation Murambatsvina

In May 2005 the government embarked on Operation Murambatsvina, a program of mass forced evictions and demolition of homes and informal businesses in poor urban areas. According to eyewitnesses some people were beaten by the police and in the turmoil several people allegedly lost their life. Examining the result of the operation, Anna Tibaijuka, the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, reported that some 700 000 people had lost their homes, their livelihoods or both, and that a further 2.4 million people had been affected in varying degrees, stating that the operation "was carried out in an indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with indifference to human suffering, and, in repeated cases, with disregard to several provisions of national and international legal frameworks." The report concluded that the operation violated several key human rights, including the right to life, property and freedom of movement.cite web|title=Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina|author=UN Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe Mrs. Anna KajumuloTibaijuka|url=http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/zimbabwe/zimbabwe_rpt.pdf|format=pdf|accessdate=2007-03-14]

Respect for civil liberties

In Zimbabwe the freedom of assembly is severely restricted by law. The legal framework is further stretched in practice, with law enforcement closely monitoring opposition demonstrations and public gatherings. There are many reports of the arrest and subsequent beating of demonstrators. According to the Human Rights Watch report "You Will Be Thoroughly Beaten": The Brutal Suppression of Dissent in Zimbabwe", laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Miscellaneous Offences Act (MOA) are used to violently disrupt peaceful demonstrations and justify the arrest of civil society activists. In some cases, the activists are held for more than the legally allowed limit, often without charge.cite web|title="You Will Be Thoroughly Beaten": The Brutal Suppression of Dissent in Zimbabwe|author=Human Rights Watch|url=http://hrw.org/reports/2006/zimbabwe1106/|accessdate=2007-03-14]

In its 2006 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House finds that Zimbabwe's already very poor freedom of expression and freedom of the press has deteriorated still further. The 2002 Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) requires journalists and media companies to register with the government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) and gives the government powers to deny people to work as journalists. An amendment enacted in 2005 introduced prison sentences of up to two years for journalists working without accreditation. Oppositional and independent newspapers have been ordered to close by the authorities, and journalists are intimidated, arrested, and prosecuted, with the support of laws criminalizing the publication of "inaccurate" information. Foreign journalists are regularly denied visas, and local correspondents for foreign publications have been refused accreditation and threatened with deportation.The state controls all broadcast media as well as major dailies such as "The Chronicle" and "The Herald". The coverage is dominated by favorable portrayals of Robert Mugabe and the ZANU-PF party and attacks on government critics. According to Freedom House, the government also monitors e-mail content.cite web|title=Zimbabwe: 2006 Country Report|author=Freedom House|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2006&country=7092|accessdate=2007-03-14]

According to the U.S. State Department, a local NGO has quoted State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa as stating the authorities would "not relent in their determination to hound into extinction the country's few remaining alternative sources of information."cite web|title=Zimbabwe Country Report on Human Rights Practices - 2006|author=U.S. Department of State|url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78765.htm| accessdate = 2007-03-14]

While some African election observers deemed the 2005 parliamentary election reflective of the will of the people, the general consensus is that these and prior elections in Zimbabwe have not been free and fair, with widespread electoral fraud. Candidates and supporters of the opposition party, MDC, have been restricted from campaigning openly in some areas, and have faced harassment, violence and intimidation. Government food stocks have been offered to voters in exchange for their votes. The media coverage has been strongly biased in favour of ZANU-PF. On election day, many potential voters, particularly in constituencies dominated by the opposition, were turned away. The main reason for this was that they tried to vote in the wrong constituency due to inadequately publicized redistricting. Election observers also noted voter intimidation at polling stations. In one incident, police took no action when a ZANU-PF candidate threatened to shoot MDC polling agents. Vote reporting discrepancies heavily favoring the ruling party suggest that tolls were manipulated.

Discrimination

Women are disadvantaged in Zimbabwe, with economic dependency and social norms preventing them from combating sex discrimination. Despite legal prohibitions, customs such as forced marriage are still in place. Domestic violence against women is a serious problem. While labor legislation prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace, such harassment is common and generally not prosecuted. While the law recognizes women’s right to property, inheritance and divorce, many women lack awareness of their rights.

President Mugabe has criticized homosexuals, attributing Africa's ills to them. Common law prevents homosexual men, and to a lesser extent homosexual women, from fully expressing their sexual orientation. In some cases it also criminalizes the display of affection between men. The criminal code has been amended to define sodomy to include "any act involving physical contact between males that would be regarded by a reasonable person to be an indecent act."

Escalating violence during the 2008 national elections

In 2008, parliamentary and presidental elections were held. The Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, won both the parliamentary election and the first round of the presidential, sparking a run-off in a latter. The three month campaign between the first and second rounds of the presidential election was marred by increasing violence targeted at MDC supporters. The MDC stated that at least 86 of its supporters -including Gibson Nyandoro and Tonderai Ndira- had been murdered, and that 200,000 others had been forced out of their homes by pro-government militia. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7478757.stm "UN 'regrets' Zimbabwe election"] , BBC, June 28, 2008] The election itself was reportedly marked by mass intimidation, with citizens being forced to vote [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7478757.stm "UN 'regrets' Zimbabwe election"] , BBC, June 28, 2008] , and required to show their ballot to government party representatives before placing it in the ballot box. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gPncViASy8q65zsiUS0Vci-obklQ "Simulacre d'élection au Zimbabwe, l'opposition appelle le monde à la rejeteré"] , AFP, June 28, 2008]

Government response

The government of Zimbabwe has generally responded to accusations of human rights violations from Western countries by counter-accusals of colonial attitudes and hypocrisy, claiming that countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States are guilty of similar or worse transgressions, for example in the Iraq War.

In a speech at the inaugural session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 21, 2006 Zimbabwe's Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, assured that Zimbabwe would "respect the human rights of all its people". However, he accused "developed countries" of funding local NGOs with the goal of "undermining our sovereignty, creating and sustaining local opposition groups that have no local support base, and promoting disaffection and hostility among the local population against their popularly elected government".cite web|title=Statement by the honorable minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Zimbabwe, Mr Patrick A Chinamasa (MP) at the inaugural session of the Human Rights Council, Geneva : 19-22 June 2006|author=Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zimbabwe to the United Nations|url=http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/statements/zimbabwe.pdf|format=pdf|accessdate=2007-03-14]

ee also

*Human trafficking in Zimbabwe

References

External links

* [http://www.hrforumzim.com/ Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum]
* [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78765.htm Zimbabwe Country Report on Human Rights Practices - 2006] - U.S. Department of State
* [http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/zimbab14720.htm World Report 2007: Zimbabwe] - Human Rights Watch
* [http://hrw.org/reports/2006/zimbabwe1106/ "You Will Be Thoroughly Beaten": The Brutal Suppression of Dissent in Zimbabwe] - Human Rights Watch
* [http://web.amnesty.org/report2006/zwe-summary-eng Report 2006: Zimbabwe] - Amnesty International
* [http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991223966&Language=EN Zimbabwe: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2006)] - International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
* [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2006&country=7092 Zimbabwe: 2006 Country Report] - Freedom House
* [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2006 Zimbabwe: Freedom of the Press 2006] - Freedom House