IN a bid to get attention and make President Robert Mugabe act on the whereabouts of his journalist-cum-human rights activist brother — Itai — Patson Dzamara staged a one-man protest on Independence Day at the National Sports Stadium which saw him get arrested and later allege he was severely beaten by suspected State security agents.
bY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
Itai was ironically allegedly abducted by suspected State security agents for leading a campaign against Mugabe’s alleged maladministration.
The State apparatus has constantly ignored the provisions of the country’s new Constitution’s sections 61 and 62 that seek to protect the right to freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information.
People can’t freely express themselves because of the ruthlessness of the Zanu PF-led government,” Dzamara said.
Apart from being harassed on Independence Day, Dzamara has become a habitual cell-dweller following a number of arrests after staging demonstrations in the country, the recent being the Occupy Africa Unity Square ones.
Submissions made by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZHLR) recently to the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Human Rights, dubbed The State of Human Rights Situation in Zimbabwe, show the government still lags behind in promoting rights for the ordinary citizens of the country.
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The human rights lawyers have raised the red flag, saying the country is likely to witness a surge in abuses as the 2018 watershed elections draw near.
“From the litigation work that ZLHR has carried out, it is important to note that ZLHR’s caseload has escalated. There has been a general lack of willingness to implement some of the key provisions of the Constitution. This is evident due to the nature of cases that involve a wide array of violations of social, economic rights, civil and political rights,” the human rights lawyers said.
“ZLHR is concerned that these cases of human rights violations are likely to escalate as elections approach if no tangible measures are taken by the three arms of government to address the gaps for effective human rights implementation.”
According to ZLHR, the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs), in particular, remains dire.
In 2015, ZLHR provided legal assistance in at least 122 emergency and follow-up cases benefiting 463 HRDs.
In most instances, the arrests were arbitrary and unjustified.
Of the cases finalised in 2015, the success rate was at 91,5%, while 17 HRDs opted to pay fines for criminal nuisance (vague offence in the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act as they did not want to be detained in filthy holding cells.
Eighty-five of those arrested were released without any charges after lawyers intervened.
As far as arbitrary arrests and detentions are concerned, at least 224 individual HRDs — the rest were journalists, student activists, civic society organisation staffers and other categories of HRDs — assisted in 2015.
They mainly included informal traders and villagers, according to the submissions.
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association director Okay Machisa said there was need for a system that respects the Constitution and the rule of law.
“In my opinion, where democracy and human rights are taken first and where constitutionalism carries the day, such open violations are very minimal. In Zimbabwe to begin with, constitutionalism is still at its kindergarten level, especially by the Executive,” he said.
“We might have a beautiful Constitution, but when we have leaders who do not subscribe to the provisions of that Constitution, never will we be close to liberties like the fundamental freedoms you have raised. What is needed is a system that respects the rule of law and have total political will to implement all the functions of the Constitution.”
Machisa said Zimbabweans should exercise their constitutional right to demonstrate against what citizens feel is not right and is illegal and unconstitutional.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) spokesperson Obert Gutu said freedom of expression would remain suppressed as long as the Zanu PF-led government remained in power.
“The Zanu PF regime has very little respect and scant regard for freedom of expression. This is typical of dictatorships all over the world. As you know, the Zanu PF regime is a fully-fledged dictatorship, warts and all. Over the years, we have witnessed people being harassed and in some cases, arrested and tortured for merely opting to exercise their constitutional right of freedom of expression,” he said. “Itai Dzamara was abducted by suspected State security agents. His only crime was that he had chosen to stage regular peaceful demonstrations against President Mugabe and his regime at Africa Unity Square in Harare. Many other political and human rights activists have disappeared without trace over the years.
“For as long as Zimbabwe remains under the grip and iron-fisted control of a rogue and fascist regime that has absolutely no respect for the people’s constitutional right to stage peaceful demonstrations against the government as well as freely expressing themselves, the problem of arrests and torture of people will not be successfully addressed.”
Media practitioners have not been spared in the arrests and detentions.
Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe chapter director Nhlanhla Ngwenya said government was acting against promotion of human rights as enshrined in a number of both regional and international charters.
“What happened in 2015 with regard to the violation of freedom of expression and media freedom, which rights are explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution, clearly underlines that a good constitution on its own is no guarantor for the full enjoyment of a people’s liberties. It takes political will among duty bearers to live up to and conduct themselves in line with the spirit, text and meaning of the Constitution,” he said.
“Sadly, in Zimbabwe, this is not the case. In fact, government’s conduct affirms the long-held public view that those in office have no regard for human rights, but their self-preservation. And such observations are anchored on the fact that since Independence, the ruling party has not demonstrated willingness to fully embrace basic principles of promoting human rights, which are enshrined in several regional and international statutes to some of which Zimbabwe is State party.”
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, among others.
“The Constitutional Court offers many Zimbabweans an opportunity to seek recourse. Its February ruling quashing criminal defamation is an example. Also, it is still important to continuously engage relevant and key State actors in order to push for legislative reforms,” Ngwenya said.
“The process may be slow, but the truth is, Zimbabwe would be worse had it not been for the resilience of and efforts by its civil society, citizens and opposition in pushing for democratic reforms. Certainly, we can build on the cumulative gains of the past, however tedious the struggle maybe.”
Despite all the efforts in fighting for democracy and human rights, freedom of expression is still in the doldrums in Zimbabwe.
