News / National
ZHRC dealt with 400 complainant of human rights violations since 2014
21 Jan 2016 at 05:21hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) says it has dealt with more than 400 complaints to ensure efficiency and a new act is underway since its inception in 2014.
"For Zimbabweans, making complaints about human rights violations and maladministration has become a better and more transparent process than previously. The ZHRC's secretariat has dealt with more than 400 cases since they became operational in 2014, after existing mostly on paper since 2010," said the commission.
"50 of the 400 newly received cases are open, while the secretariat reduced the number of inherited cases from the former public protector from 550 to 450. The received cases are mostly on property rights, land disputes and labour related cases (e.g. unfair dismissals) and ZHRC resolves the majority by mediating between the alleged and the complainant - so far without litigations."
"We are very encouraged by the efforts of the commission. The secretariat had to start from scratch, and further inherited a large number of old cases, but the will and effort of staff has been impressive," Mads Gottlieb from the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) says.
DIHR has been supporting the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission since 2013, helping the commission in setting up the secretariat in an efficient manner.
Incoming cases are handled systematically and presented for the Commissioners once a month. An important part of the secretariat's success is the development of a complaints handling manual – ensuring consistency and efficiency from case to case, that everyone knows their role and that everything is handled transparent and described.
"The manual is a big help in securing that cases are handled properly every time. The commission handles each case systematically, and also has a system for referring cases to other institutions – it is absolutely pivotal, that there is consistency in how similar cases are handled," Lis Dhundale from DIHR says.
Another possible great leap forward that the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission can soon take, deals with a revision of the Act on the ZHRC. The Act is being aligned to the new Zimbabwean Constitution (from 2013), which gives the commission the opportunity to strengthen its mandate and give ZHRC even larger independence when protecting and promoting human rights in Zimbabwe.
"For Zimbabweans, making complaints about human rights violations and maladministration has become a better and more transparent process than previously. The ZHRC's secretariat has dealt with more than 400 cases since they became operational in 2014, after existing mostly on paper since 2010," said the commission.
"50 of the 400 newly received cases are open, while the secretariat reduced the number of inherited cases from the former public protector from 550 to 450. The received cases are mostly on property rights, land disputes and labour related cases (e.g. unfair dismissals) and ZHRC resolves the majority by mediating between the alleged and the complainant - so far without litigations."
"We are very encouraged by the efforts of the commission. The secretariat had to start from scratch, and further inherited a large number of old cases, but the will and effort of staff has been impressive," Mads Gottlieb from the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) says.
DIHR has been supporting the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission since 2013, helping the commission in setting up the secretariat in an efficient manner.
Incoming cases are handled systematically and presented for the Commissioners once a month. An important part of the secretariat's success is the development of a complaints handling manual – ensuring consistency and efficiency from case to case, that everyone knows their role and that everything is handled transparent and described.
"The manual is a big help in securing that cases are handled properly every time. The commission handles each case systematically, and also has a system for referring cases to other institutions – it is absolutely pivotal, that there is consistency in how similar cases are handled," Lis Dhundale from DIHR says.
Another possible great leap forward that the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission can soon take, deals with a revision of the Act on the ZHRC. The Act is being aligned to the new Zimbabwean Constitution (from 2013), which gives the commission the opportunity to strengthen its mandate and give ZHRC even larger independence when protecting and promoting human rights in Zimbabwe.
Source - Byo24News
