Zimbabwe's progress on human rights 'woefully slow'

BULAWAYO - In a recent report Amnesty International said Zimbabwe's progress on human human rights is very slow with President robert Mugabe at the centre of the continued abuse of basic human ights punctuated by endless indiscriminate attacks on opposition party supporters, writes Simba Nembaware.

At the close of a six day visit to Zimbabwe where she met with senior government officilas and victims of human rights violations, the organisation's Secretary General Irene Khan said the human rights situation "in Zimbabwe is precarious, and the socio-economic conditions are desperate for the vast majority of Zimbabweans."

“Persistent and serious human rights violations, combined with the failure to introduce reform of the police, army and security forces or address impunity and the lack of clear commitment on some parts of the government are real obstacles that need to be confronted by the top leadership of Zimbabwe.”

Amnesty International said that the Global Political Agreement (GPA) -- which was signed by all main political parties and paved the way for the setting up of the Inclusive Government -- provides a framework for change, but commitment to its implementation is not consistent throughout the government.

The orgamisation noted for a change to happen President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai need to make "public statements clearly instructing all party activists to stop harassment, intimidation, and threats against perceived political opponents, including teachers and lawyers."

Khan said as head of state, commander in chief of the armed forces and leader of the country for the last three decades, President Mugabe and those around him have a special responsibility to rise to the challenge of delivering on the GPA and particularly on the hard core human rights issues.



The report explicitly points out that "there seems to be no sense of real urgency to bring about human rights changes on the part of some government leaders. Words have not been followed by effective action.”

“No serious efforts have been made to reform the security sector. No major investigation or prosecution has been brought against those responsible for state-sponsored political violence in recent years. Some elements of ZANU-PF still see the use of violence as a legitimate tool to crush political opponents.

The assessment revealed tht human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers continue to be intimidated, harassed, threatened, arrested and charged, while prosecutions continue against 15 political activists and human rights defenders abducted last year and against a number of Parliamentarians.

It also revealed that "the right to protest continues to be severely restricted. As recently as yesterday, a number of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) activists were beaten by the police and seven were arrested for carrying out peaceful demonstrations."

Farm invasions persist, with violence affecting both farmers and farm workers while "four years on, most of the victims of forced evictions during Operation Murambatsvina remain without adequate housing and redress."