News / National
Zimbabwe happy to host UN rights chief
21 May 2012 at 11:29hrs | Views
Patrick Chinamasa, the Zimbabwean Justice Minister, says Zimbabwe is happy to host the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay "because we have nothing to hide in terms of human rights issues".
Pillay arrived on Sunday in Zimbabwe on the first mission to the troubled southern African nation by the world rights chief.
Chinamasa, quoted in the state Sunday Mail newspaper, said Pillay was first invited to Zimbabwe last year but couldn't make that trip.
"We showed our commitment by extending another invitation in February and we are happy she has accepted," he said.
He said he was not concerned by submissions Pillay was expected to receive from rights activists and non-governmental organisations.
"We are happy we will be able to host her because we have nothing to hide in terms of human rights issues. We are not worried about what our detractors will say," he said.
She will meet with Mugabe, political leaders and rights groups, said Chinamasa.
Pillay is scheduled to hold talks with Mugabe, Tsvangirai, defence and service chiefs, judges, lawmakers and leaders of rights groups. She will hear reports of alleged human rights abuses at diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe where the military has been accused of shootings and torture of villagers driven from mining areas.
Officials said Pillay's weeklong trip is at the invitation of the three-year coalition government formed in 2009 after disputed, violent elections plagued by rights abuses blamed mainly on militants of President Robert Mugabe's party and loyalist police and troops.
"I am here to assess the human rights situation," Pillay told reporters at the Harare airport late on Sunday.
Pillay, who served as a judge in South Africa, has been at the forefront of the documentation of reported killings in Syria during uprisings against the government. She was also a former judge at the International Criminal Court and head of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Pillay ends her Zimbabwe visit on Friday.
Pillay arrived on Sunday in Zimbabwe on the first mission to the troubled southern African nation by the world rights chief.
Chinamasa, quoted in the state Sunday Mail newspaper, said Pillay was first invited to Zimbabwe last year but couldn't make that trip.
"We showed our commitment by extending another invitation in February and we are happy she has accepted," he said.
He said he was not concerned by submissions Pillay was expected to receive from rights activists and non-governmental organisations.
"We are happy we will be able to host her because we have nothing to hide in terms of human rights issues. We are not worried about what our detractors will say," he said.
Pillay is scheduled to hold talks with Mugabe, Tsvangirai, defence and service chiefs, judges, lawmakers and leaders of rights groups. She will hear reports of alleged human rights abuses at diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe where the military has been accused of shootings and torture of villagers driven from mining areas.
Officials said Pillay's weeklong trip is at the invitation of the three-year coalition government formed in 2009 after disputed, violent elections plagued by rights abuses blamed mainly on militants of President Robert Mugabe's party and loyalist police and troops.
"I am here to assess the human rights situation," Pillay told reporters at the Harare airport late on Sunday.
Pillay, who served as a judge in South Africa, has been at the forefront of the documentation of reported killings in Syria during uprisings against the government. She was also a former judge at the International Criminal Court and head of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Pillay ends her Zimbabwe visit on Friday.
Source - Sapa
