Amnesty International (AI) has challenged President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to repeal laws that restrict human freedoms in order to improve the country’s image.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
Launching the 2017 Global Report on Human Rights, AI country director, Cousin Zilala said laws such as the Public Order and Security Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, among others, were working against the fight to improve human rights.
“The legal framework needs to be revisited because these laws prohibit Zimbabweans to enjoy their human rights as enshrined in the Constitution and other human rights charters, which Zimbabwe is signatory to (sic),” he said.
AI said a number of violations were recorded last year, including forced evictions, arrest of journalists and political activists, who differed with the government as well as constitutional violations.
“The authorities continued with forced evictions despite constitutional provisions prohibiting the practice. Independence of the judiciary remained under threat following amendments to the Constitution,” the report said.
The report said Zimbabweans resorted to the use of social media to express their anger against the government led by former President Robert Mugabe over the cash shortages.
“In October, the Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation was established in response to social media activism,” the report read. After the military forced Mugabe to step down through Operation Restore Legacy, AI said the army arbitrarily arrested and detained a number of people on charges of fraud and corruption.
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“Those arrested included senior government officials, implicated in corruption, whose rights were denied on arrest, including by being denied access to lawyers. During the military takeover in November, army personnel detained several members of a Zanu PF faction, who were alleged to support Emmerson Mnangagwa’s dismissal,” the report stated.
“They were held for more than the constitutionally permitted 48 hours before being brought to court. Former Finance minister Ignatius Chombo, ex-Zanu PF youth league commissar, Innocent Hamandishe and former Zanu PF youth league secretary, Kudzanayi Chipanga, were arrested and detained by military police on November 14. During their detention, they were denied access to their lawyers and were not taken to court until November 25.”
