HUMAN rights organisations have lamented that Zimbabweans are still being denied freedom of assembly, as well as rights to basic services like clean water and housing.
by VENERANDA LANGA
In a joint statement to commemorate the International Human Rights Day yesterday, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said despite having a Constitution that protected people’s rights, many Zimbabweans suffered arbitrary evictions and demolitions of their houses.
“The people of Zimbabwe suffer from interlinked political, economic and social violations that include violations of the right to work, free expression, assembly and association, freedom from arbitrary evictions, the right to education, clean and potable water, access to information and the right to language and culture, among others,” read the joint statement.
“Despite the protections in the 2013 Constitution, illegal property demolitions and arbitrary evictions have been carried out throughout the country in most urban areas without the provision of alternative accommodation.”
They cited the abduction in March of Itai Dzamara as breach of rights to the security of the person.
“Law enforcement agencies continue to use torture as a means of investigating and obtaining information. There is also reluctance by government to respect civil liberties, in particular fundamental freedoms of association, assembly, and expression as well as media freedom.”
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The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission said they noted the dire situation of millions of girls and boys, and young women and men, whose universal human rights to education is negatively impacted due to violence, lack of resources and discrimination, as well as gender based violence.
“The ZHRC calls upon the State to take measures to ensure that schools are a safe environment for all children by ensuring that all forms of violence, including sexual violation and exploitation of girls, are limited,” the human rights body said.
ZimRights castigated violent police crackdowns on peaceful protesters, wanton arrests of journalists and violence during elections.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said it was deeply concerned at the continued wave of house demolitions without alternative accommodation being offered to the victims, farm evictions that have rendered families hopeless and continued cases of political violence and intolerance.
The Legal Resources Foundation said Zimbabwe ratified a number of international and regional conventions and treaties that which make the country duty bound to protect, promote, enforce and uphold all civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights.
Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe said lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans-gender (LGBTI) and intersex communities continue to be harassed, verbally abused, assaulted, disowned by families, blackmailed and experience extortion and hate perpetrated in many forms by the state and the public.
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development said the situation of indebtedness, the unfair global trade regime and lack of democratic people centred economic governance was the root cause of socio-economic crises in Zimbabwe.
